Ralph Babet (Victoria, United Australia Party) Share this | Hansard source

I remember when the Prime Minister came to power he said something along the lines of, 'It's going to be a kinder, gentler type of politics.' Rubbish! What was this man talking about? That's not the case at all. That's not what happened. I'm pleased to support and co-sponsor the Members of Parliament (Staff) Amendment (Providing Certainty and Improving Integrity) Bill 2025. I thank Senator Cash for her efforts in drafting this bill.

Do you know what Prime Minister Albanese has been doing? He's been treating parliamentary staffing like it's his own personal loyalty program. That's what he's done. If you agree with him—and many of you in this place know I struggle to agree with most of what he says—you get a gold tier membership. If you don't, then enjoy doing your job with one staff member or no staff members. Maybe you can just do your job with a prayer instead!

It's not about budgets; we know that. It's not about efficiency. So what's it about? It's about control. It's definitely not about fairness. It's about the Prime Minister trying to control the narrative. It's about the Prime Minister trying to hamstring the people that speak against his far-left socialist agenda. The Prime Minister has figured out that if he can't win the argument he'll just simply make sure that no-one else has the resources to argue back against him. It's clever, I'll give him that, but is it democratic? Absolutely not.

Since the Prime Minister has been returned to power he's gutted opposition staff and slashed crossbench support. No warning, no consultation, nothing—just the stroke of his pen, and, boom, less scrutiny and more secrecy. Apparently that's what new politics looks like. Under this current set-up that we have right now, there's no baseline and there are no guidelines. What transparency, Prime Minister? Staffing levels are entirely at his whim. Even the government's own review in 2022 called it out—limited transparency, unfairness, dangerous workload.

This bill fixes that. It sets a minimum staffing level for non-government MPs, and we need it. It puts a floor under fairness and a ceiling on the Prime Minister's ego—and that's very important, because his ego is a big one. It ensures that parliament, not just the Prime Minister's office, has the people it needs to do the job that Australians sent us here to do. When you cut staff to the crossbenchers, what are you really doing? I'll keep saying it: you're silencing your opposition. Worse than that; you're silencing the Australian people. When the Prime Minister starts to buy silence, it's time we all start shouting.

Parliament does not belong to the Prime Minister; it belongs to the Australian people. The Australian people deserve a system built on integrity, not secrecy. That is why I support this bill and why I urge my colleagues in this place to do the same—although I don't think some in this place will because, possibly, they've been offered some sweeteners not to.