Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Xenophon for the question and making sure I did not have a question time without a question at all today. I am aware of the reports on the ABC's 7.30 Report last night. As the senator would know, there are a number of these matters which are currently before the courts, so obviously in this answer and I assume also in response to subsequent questions in the supplementary, I am obviously going to be reasonably constrained, because I am not going to be canvassing matters which are currently before the courts.

I would make a couple of points, though. It is obviously in the community's interest to ensure that public institutions meet the highest standards. That is the view of the government and that is clearly also the view of the Governor of the Reserve Bank if you look to his public statements. The Reserve Bank has responded to the matters raised, I am advised, on the 7.30 Report. I am advised that they have reaffirmed that it has cooperated fully with the legal authorities and that the bank's executives acted in good faith and with integrity. I understand the RBA stated last night, as follows:

The Reserve Bank is committed to transparency on these matters with the community and the Parliament through the House of Representatives Economics Committee. In his Statement to the Committee on 24 August,—

and the senator would be aware of this—

the Governor said that the Bank was taking steps to seek the permission of the Court to allow the Bank to table a broad range of relevant documents. This work is progressing. It is important that the legal process is respected and that the release of any documents is done in a way that does not jeopardise the right of the accused to a fair trial.

The Bank has sought to deal appropriately with all the issues that have arisen. It has cooperated fully with the legal authorities, notifying them of the existence of relevant documents— (Time expired)