Senate debates

Tuesday, 26 August 2014

Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers

Answers to Questions

3:04 pm

Photo of Kim CarrKim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by ministers to questions without notice asked by Opposition senators today.

People who invoke absolute principles should take great care to stand by them. If they do not, they will be exposed as people whose words simply cannot be trusted, people for whom principles and promises ultimately mean nothing.

The Prime Minister of this country now stands exposed for his failure to live up to a little sermon that he preached in August last year. I bring his words to the Senate's attention once more:

It is an absolute principle of democracy that governments should not and must not say one thing before an election and do the opposite afterwards. Nothing could be more calculated to bring our democracy into disrepute and alienate the citizenry of Australia from their government than if governments were to establish by precedent that they could say one thing before an election and do the opposite afterwards.

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