Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of the minister's statement earlier today in relation to the government's failure to be transparent and upfront with this chamber. It's the Senate's job to inquire into what the government is up to. It's the Senate's job to make sure the government of the day is held to account. It's the Senate's job to make sure bureaucrats in the Public Service are doing their job. It's senators' job to make sure that we inform ourselves of the decisions that are being made and the reasons taxpayers' money is being spent under certain programs and in certain ways. It is our job. It's actually the reason we have Senate inquiries; it's the reason we have Senate estimates. It's the reason we have a process in this chamber each sitting day to ask the questions the community needs answers to and to which they want answers from the executive. That is our job.

This government is obsessed with cover-ups and secrecy. It has sheer arrogance and a contempt not just for the powers and the role of the Senate but also for the public's right to know. The public has the right to know how much of its money this government wants to spend on a cosy deal negotiated by Barnaby Joyce, the former water minister. The public has a right to know what Mr Joyce was up to. The public has a right to know what the impact of a piece of legislation passing this chamber would be. That's why we have Senate inquiries. This government is obsessed with secrecy and with hiding from public scrutiny. The fact that day after day after day in this place the government denies access to documents and information that this Senate asks for is a disgrace. The Senate is not a rubber stamp for the government. The government may be annoyed by the role that the Senate plays. They may wish that the Senate would just get out of the way. Well, tough luck. It is our job to hold this government to account. It is our job to make sure we are fully abreast of the decisions that are being made. It is our job to get the information that the public deserves to have.

In this particular case, what we know is that a special, cosy deal was negotiated by the former water minister, Barnaby Joyce, who spent too much money purchasing the water. This, of course, is the government that says that they are the arbiters of all wisdom when it comes to budgets and the economy. Mr Joyce crows about the fact that he's the only accountant in this place, yet he signed off on a deal where he spent too much money—more money than was required—for a company that his mate in cabinet Mr Angus Taylor has a connection to. It's all very cosy on that side, on the front bench. It's all very cosy indeed. No wonder this government doesn't want the public to know what has been going on. No wonder this government is obsessed with secrecy. It's all okay, in their nice little cosy circle on the front bench, to scratch each other's backs, to pay each other's bills and to snuggle, snuggle. They just don't want the public to know what they're up to. That is why time after time after time in this place they are in contempt of Senate orders.

This particular water purchase is just one example. Only in the last sitting period, this Senate asked for a number of reviews and reports in relation to the Water for Fodder Program. Despite this Senate asking for that documentation to be tabled, released and given to us so that we could do our job it wasn't. In fact, it wasn't released until it was given as an exclusive drop to a journalist weeks later, after they had been in contempt of the Senate. The Senate wasn't allowed the information but they gave it to their mates at News Corp. So not just is it contempt for the Senate, it is contempt for the Australian people, because this is the Australian people's right to know what is going on, and it is our job as senators to get them that information.

Last week this government blocked the Senate from sending a piece of legislation to a Senate inquiry. The government wants to rush in their environment law changes to make it easier for the big corporations to dig more mines, cut down more trees and put more profits in the bank balances of Rio Tinto and others. This government stopped this Senate chamber from being able to refer this legislation to a simple inquiry. The arrogance and the cover-up of this government grows day by day. The Australian community should be very, very wary. Every time this government says no to information being revealed, or a Senate inquiry occurring, or a particular bureaucrat appearing before a Senate hearing the Australian people are becoming more and more aware that that means there is something being covered up. Of course, this government stopped senior federal bureaucrats from appearing in front of state based royal commissions. Whether it's the Ruby Princess or the Murray-Darling Basin Royal Commission, this government doesn't want the truth out there. They just say: 'No, we're not answering any questions. We're not even going to show up.' The obsession with secrecy is palpable, and you've got to ask why. What are they hiding? Why are they covering this up? Why are they denying the Australian people's right to know what on earth is going on by denying this chamber the ability for us to do our jobs?

Former water minister Barnaby Joyce obviously thought that this money was his own personal piggy bank, that he could spend whatever he wanted and give it to his mates with no accountability. No wonder he didn't want the Senate to get into this. No wonder this government has covered up these documents for so long. These bogus claims of public interest immunity just so they don't have to answer questions are becoming more and more of a joke. In my home state of South Australia, more and more voters are voting against the major parties. More and more voters are saying: 'No, we don't want this: their way or the highway. We actually want people in this place who are prepared to hold the government to account, to keep the bastards honest.' That is our job, and we will not be denied it. However long it takes, we will stand up and call you out. However long it takes, we will stand up and make sure the public know what is going on in their names and with their money. You may try to gag debate, you may try to block Senate inquiries, you may try to stop documents from being released, but in the end the truth always wins out. We will hold you to account and we will make sure the public have the full information of what you are doing in their name and with their money.

You can't trust the government. You just can't trust them. You can't trust them with aged care, you can't trust them with issues of transparency and you certainly can't trust them with the environment or water. The most recent water minister, Keith Pitt, is carrying on the long legacy of carrying that National Party mantle for this government, holding the water portfolio and keeping the public in the dark. And, of course, what do we know Mr Pitt is more focused on at the moment than doing his job as water minister? He's trying to knock off the current Deputy Prime Minister. He wants his job. That's what he's more interested in; he is more interested in knocking off Mr McCormack so he can have the job for himself than he is interested in anything to do with managing the Murray-Darling Basin or making sure that the public know what's going on.

The government are obsessed with themselves, and why do they cover it up? Because they don't want anyone to know that all they care about is self-interest, paying off their mates and keeping each other in a job. It's pathetic, and it doesn't matter how many times you deny us in this place as senators on the crossbench from asking the questions, we will keep asking. We will keep pushing for the information to be out there. This self-obsessed, secrecy obsessed, power obsessed government keeps going. The public see through it. They see what you are doing, and, ultimately, it'll be your own downfall. But stopping this place from doing its job? No. You're never going to get away with that.