Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

As I was saying, those opposite seem to want to rewrite history here and say that something like this has never occurred before, where a government has been held to account. I'd like to repeat something I put into Hansard last week, when Senator Wong was overseas and not here. I think it is entirely relevant that we read back to Hansard the commentary of Senator Wong in relation to a motion that the opposition at the time, now the government, sought to move at a time they were accusing Senator Cormann of not being transparent when he was not releasing a document. Let's be clear here. The precedent for this particular issue has been set already by those opposite. To remind those opposite, in case you've forgotten from last week, this is what Senator Wong had to say back on 12 February 2020:

It is entirely explicable why the government have such an attitude, though. Frankly, they're arrogant. They've been on a victory lap. They think they own the joint. They think that the last election was the last word on accountability. They think they're unbeatable and that, no matter how badly they govern or abuse their office, they can get away with it. That's what they think, and it is reflected in their behaviour.

I would remind government ministers that unchecked power never ends well.

They were the words of Senator Wong in relation to when a much more aggressive punitive action was threated against Senator Cormann.

Quite simply, the easiest way for this impasse to be dealt with is for the government to comply with the order. The minister responsible for this particular document hasn't provided it to the chamber, despite the majority of this chamber saying that she needed to provide this document, a document that she promised to release 2½ years ago and has still not produced to date. It's actually a very sad indictment on the transparency of this government.

But the most egregious thing that has happened in this chamber is that the will of this chamber has continually been denied by those opposite. You are behaving like the most arrogant government. You do not believe you need to comply with the orders of this place. This chamber is sovereign. The orders of this chamber, the will of this chamber, should be adhered to. There were a number of people in this chamber, the overwhelming number of people in this chamber—