Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Special Minister of State) Share this | Hansard source

As Senator Coonan says, he should have just fessed up. He should have said, ‘I got caught out. You all found out about it. Yes, that is what we are going to do. What a terrific bloke Steve Bracks is and what a marvellous job he will do.’ But he did not take that course of action. He did not take the course of action of decency, which would have been to say, ‘Okay, you’ve got me. This is what we’re going to do.’ Then he would have obviously defended Mr Bracks, and he is entitled to do so as he has appointed him. But what he failed to do yesterday was to accept the responsibility that we all have as senators—and indeed a higher level of responsibility lies with members of the executive—to ensure that what we tell the Senate is indeed correct and truthful.

Senator Carr knew very well that Mr Bracks had been approached in relation to this job. He knew very well that the other members of this committee, which were announced mysteriously very early this morning, had also been approached, but he chose to take the course of action that would enable him to put out a press release as opposed to making the announcement yesterday. By doing so, there was a gross derogation of his responsibilities to this place to ensure that what he was telling us was indeed the truth.

Senator Carr is a new minister but he has been around this place for a very, very long time. He knows what the responsibilities are for a senator. He knows what the added responsibilities are for a member of the executive. One can only assume that he decided to not take this course of action (a) to give himself some wriggle room the next morning and (b) because he was not going to acknowledge the fact that one of the people he was putting on to this committee was indeed a former union representative who had made it quite clear that the Productivity Commission was not an appropriate group to address this. The Productivity Commission, as those opposite know full well, is the organisation that should be conducting this review.

What has happened is that a former member of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, who has been vehemently opposed to the Productivity Commission since its last report, has actually leant on this government, and again it is payback for election funding. For this government to take the course of action they have, where they have appointed former union officials who are vehemently opposed to the Productivity Commission for a rational and reasonable debate in relation to tariffs, is, quite frankly, a shame on the new government. You had the choice of going to the Productivity Commission, but you know and we know that you are indebted to the trade union movement; you are indebted to the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union. I have the figures here: 634,000 reasons for you to put a former union official, now an ACTU official, on this inquiry. This is not an independent inquiry. It would have been an independent inquiry with the Productivity Commission. The Australian Labor Party has sold its soul to the union movement because of election funding. (Time expired)