Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

The Auditor-General report entitled Administration of parliamentarians’ entitlements by the Department of Finance and Deregulation is a remarkable indictment of the failure of successive governments to put a proper curb on the printing entitlements of parliamentarians. I think it warrants some response in this place. In 2003 I moved to disallow a major hike in printing allowances, particularly for members of the House of Representatives, in the run to an election and I was successful. In 2006 I similarly moved to prevent a hike but I was not successful. On behalf of the Greens I have repeatedly sought a facility for parliamentarians to keep a watch on their spending and for parliamentarians to get advice on whether spending is legitimate.