Scott Ryan (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Carr. Without getting into the pejorative phrasing you used in the question—because it is simply based on a false premise—I, as you understand, having been sworn in last week am not confidently saying what work might have been undertaken. But, if it was to be a secret, I can tell you this: I would not circulate it via officials to state governments where certain state governments tend to make it land in certain newspapers very quickly. So I am not going to respond to your pejorative language. This is a well-known, public process, where officials have been working on serious matters of reforming the Australian federation that will actually give the electorate and give people a more direct sense of responsibility over who is responsible for what functions and what policy areas.