Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator McDonald, for the question. I would make the point that this parliament passes many more requirements on the government of the day than any previous government. An interesting statistic is that, since the last election, more orders for the production of documents have been agreed to in 19 sitting days than in the parliaments of the Fisher, the Hughes, the Bruce, the Scullin, the Lyons, the Page, the first Menzies, the Fadden, the Curtin, the Forde, the Chifley, the second Menzies, the Holt, the McEwen, the Gorton, the McMahon, the Whitlam, the Fraser and Hawke governments combined. So I would make the point that the way in which this chamber chooses to use OPDs—as someone who has been here a very long time—is, frankly, far more extensive and more onerous and with a much lower bar to put up an OPD than in any previous parliament. We have sought to comply with the orders which have been placed upon us, but I would make the point that, if you continue at this rate, there is no government that can meet this volume of OPDs as this Senate is putting in place in its entirety. It's as simple as that. If you have more in the last period than during all of those governments put together, it does tell you something about what the Senate is choosing to do.