Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Environment, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I do really wonder what the government has to hide on something as straightforward and simple as asking and seeking to understand how this government has spent $277 million of taxpayers' money. It's not the government's money and it's not their personal bank account; it is the money of taxpayers being apportioned and expended. We are not sure how it's used. We are just seeking to understand, and that is all Senator Bragg has been asking for. He's been asking for clarity on how this large sum of taxpayers' money—a resource that underpins the operations of public services provided by government—is being utilised. It's for the $277 million debited to spend on houses between 1 April and 30 June this year—a pretty straightforward request.

The minister has come in here with what some would describe as an explanation—I'm not sure it does fit the bill, frankly—and suggested that the usual practices are being applied, that they're going through the processes and that progress is being made by officials. Seriously! This is the expenditure of money relating to a significant amount when it comes to public housing and the Housing Australia Future Fund. It should not be that difficult to provide documents that outline to this place, a place where the government is accountable to the people of Australia, how that money has been spent and what it has been used on.

The government come in here day after day to tell us how amazing their program is when it comes to building houses for Australians. As we know, and as Senator Bragg has said, 17 houses have been built in the 3½ years that the Australian Labor Party have been in government, which is fewer than when the last government was in power. So to have put aside $10 billion of taxpayers' money, to not tell us how they're using it and to have only built 17 houses—something stinks to high heaven here, and they don't want us to know what it is.

There is a concerning pattern of secrecy emerging in this government. It was only 3½ years ago that the Prime Minister promised to Australians that his government would be a fairer, kinder and more transparent government, and one that would share information with Australians about how their money was being used. Well, here we are again today. This is the latest in a series of damning indictments of this government. They are hiding information from taxpayers and members of this Senate—information we deserve to know about. And you can guarantee that, when we come to Senate estimates, this government will be playing the same game. Ministers will be saying the information is commercial in confidence, or there'll be some claim of public interest immunity. I think that is not good enough.

You've got groups in Australia like the Centre for Public Integrity suggesting that this government has become more secretive and less transparent than governments before it. They've seen 25 per cent of freedom-of-information requests fully granted under this government. That means 75 per cent of requests made of this government by not just the Senate but members of the Australian public who are wanting to know how their money is being spent by this government are being denied. An alarming rate of secrecy is being applied by this government, because, of course, this government knows best. They don't want people to have the information that they're hiding, because they know best.

This is an alarming trend and a completely broken promise by this government and by this prime minister, who promised us the transparency that Australians were apparently calling out for. But it appears, as is often the case with this government and prime minister, that you can say whatever you want before an election.

You can make all sorts of commitments and set all sorts of thresholds about the ways things will be done, how low power prices will be, how many houses you'll build and how transparent you'll be, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and this pudding does not taste good. It is pointing to a government that hides things, a government that is secretive. They do not want to reveal to this place or the Australian people what is truly going on.

The reason, I believe, is that things aren't going so well. Seventeen houses, a $10 billion fund, and Australians are in no way better off as a result of this terrible program being maladministered by this government. Shame on them. Shame on them for their secrecy. They should do better. Australians deserve much better.