Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

There is some noise, not even from the chamber, just from people here.

The TEMPORARY CHAIR: I noticed that, and I am sure the person in the assistants' gallery knows that he should not have spoken. I ask you to continue.

Labor staffers and a Labor senator may think this is pretty funny, but, given the record of the senator that is laughing, one would think that he would be the last one to be laughing about accountability issues.

Everywhere I go, people raise with me what is paid to the ABC—their ABC, supposedly. The money that some of these ABC presenters allegedly get would be interesting. Mind you, I do not expect to get much of a run on the ABC. Well, I will get a bit of a run, just not a very favourable run, but I never do with the ABC—and who cares? There is that issue, and the awful approach of the Human Rights Commission to just one incident, the QUT issue, has had a large number of my constituents saying: 'What are they paid? What do they do? Why are we paying them to do this sort of thing?' The issue about Australia Post has already become quite public, as I mentioned. They are just three. I could spend the next 20 hours going through every agency. I will not, but I think the intention is there, so I would certainly hope that the parliament would agree to this. I cannot imagine a taxpayer out there in voter-land who would disagree with this proposal, so I am asking all senators to follow their populist bent and support this amendment, which will bring accountability right across the board.