Ian Campbell (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment and Heritage) Share this | Hansard source

I think just two points need to be made in response to Senator Ray’s comments. Firstly, clearly the staffing arrangements are incredibly transparent and allow this true, open public analysis. In response to the figures that Senator Ray mentioned, when it suits him he mentions the raw figures; when it does not suit him, he refuses to mention percentages. I took the opportunity of analysing very briefly the ratio of opposition staff to government staff back in 1996, as I recall him mentioning. The ratio shows that in 1996—which seems to be the first year of Senator Ray’s statistics—there was a 19.93, or just under 20 per cent, ratio of opposition staff to government staff—