Wendy Askew (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

At the request of Senator Bragg, I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) on 24 July 2025, the Senate agreed to order for the production of documents no. 27 relating to advice provided by the Treasury to the Treasurer and the Minister for Housing in relation to the Government's plan to invest $10 billion to construct 100,000 new homes for first home buyers,

(ii) on 28 July 2025, the Minister representing the Treasurer (the minister) provided an interim response to the order stating that officials in the Treasury were progressing the request for documents but that additional time was required to comply with the order,

(iii) on 3 November 2025, the Senate agreed to a further order, noting that 3 months had passed since the minister provided an interim response requesting more time to comply with the original order, noting the failure to release the documents in a timely manner was in contempt of the Senate and its functions, and ordering the minister to attend the Senate on 4 November 2025 to provide an explanation of the failure to comply,

(iv) on 4 November 2025, the minister provided 2 records with redactions of details of non-executive staff, third parties and internal Treasury email addresses; and withheld other documents on public interest grounds,

(v) on 6 November 2025, the Senate agreed to a further order noting that the minister's explanation of the failure to fully comply with the order did not provide a credible response as to why the requested documents had not been released in their entirety and ordering the minister to comply with the order by no later than 5.30 pm on Thursday, 6 November 2025, and

(vi) the order has still not been fully complied with; and

(b) requires the Minister representing the Treasurer to comply with the order by no later than midday on Thursday, 27 November 2025.