Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Hansard source

They have not heard of ‘independent assessment’, because in their time in government it did not exist. It did not exist. When a minister stands up and talks about an independent assessment, they get a bit surprised because they have never heard about that before. It was all the ministers making the decisions in those days, and we know they were all political decisions. I am advised that the department did not consider electorates or any analysis prior to the decisions being made.