Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

You don't need to be a surveyor. That's right. I'll take that interjection, Senator Scarr. We know that this is wrong.

So, for the government to say that they don't support this reference—we expected it from the Greens—it is a real shame. We cannot trust the ABC's internal investigation. From what's been spoken about here by Senator Watt and my colleagues in the Greens such as Senator Hanson-Young the ABC are looking into this, but that's just them looking into their own state of affairs. What we need is an independent review of this. We need a Senate inquiry to have a look at this. But what we've heard from the federal Labor government—from both Minister Michelle Rowland and Minister Watt—is a weak response. It's simply a slap on wrist for the ABC. It's not acceptable. There needs to be a thorough investigation. This needs to be looked at. With the power of this Senate, there needs to be an investigation into this so that we can get to the bottom of what actually happened and so that there can be consequences. It's time that this government got serious about this issue. They need to step up to the plate. I commend this motion to the Senate and urge all senators, particular the Western Australian senators—I see that Senator Cox is in here, and Senator Payman is also from Western Australia—to support this motion.