Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

On 27 March this year, the government complied with the order for production of documents relating to the resignation of the Freedom of Information Commissioner and some related matters agreed between the Greens party and the Liberal-National coalition. On behalf of the Attorney-General, I tabled dozens of pages of documents in response to the order. Material irrelevant to the order was not produced. I also made a public interest immunity claim on behalf of the Attorney-General over parts of those documents and other documents. That claim, related to cabinet deliberations and privacy, was consistent with longstanding and accepted Senate practice. I commend my letter to the President for the details of that claim, including the harm that would result from disclosure. I note in particular that it is totally obvious that questions about resourcing of agencies go to the heart of the budget process and therefore the heart of the cabinet process. It's perhaps not surprising that the Greens party struggles to recognise that, not being a party of government, but the Liberal and National Party coalition, including failed ministers from the former government, understand it all too well.

The coalition's support for the original order and its support for the motion today are acts of wanton opportunism. During their nine years in office, the coalition had absolutely no respect for this chamber. The former government routinely ignored orders to produce documents; the former government routinely refused to answer questions from committees and senators; and, relevantly, it treated the freedom of information system with utter contempt. It left the position of FOI Commissioner unfilled for seven years. The position was filled on the eve of the last election, without a merit based selection process.

The former Prime Minister, Mr Morrison, created a sham cabinet committee to hide documents from scrutiny. He declared, without any basis, that National Cabinet was a committee of the federal cabinet. Mr Morrison also created a bespoke exemption when responding to FOI requests. His office used to tell applicants that he was above the law. The former Prime Minister refused to answer questions from the parliament and the press about his attempt to invite Brian Houston to the White House and about his QAnon house guests at the official residences.

The former government turned scandal into an art form, whether it be sports rorts, carpark rorts or the Leppington Triangle affair. Senator Cash famously hid behind a whiteboard so she didn't have to take questions about her refusal to make a police statement regarding her office leaking details of a police raid on a union office—