Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks to the minister for the answer. The government in previous debate on the importance of this committee argued that the reason this committee is so special, the reason this committee is supreme, is that it has access to information and will operate in secret. Now, I might have a different understanding of the English language than the minister, but operating in secret seems to me to be an absolute lack of transparency. That is precisely why we've just moved an amendment to try to at least have a broader representation of the parliament on this committee, because we know that when it's the Labor Party and the coalition operating in secret—behind closed doors, away from the public view, without parliamentary scrutiny—bad things happen. All you need to do is ask members of the Australian community whether they trust members of the Labor Party and members of the Liberal Party to operate in secret, behind closed doors, in the best interests of the community. I'll tell you what, a lot of people out there in our community would say no, because the tried and tested examples continue to show that, when there is no sunlight and when there is no transparency, governments and opposition colluding together is bad for the public.

In this situation, we're talking about the most serious of discussions, the most serious of decisions, the most serious of scrutiny of intelligence. That is in relation to whether countries are supporting military action or intervention or not. What types of resources are being used to support overseas military activities? So spare me the lecture around transparency, when the whole purpose of this committee—of why it is so supreme—is because it is secret. That is the whole purpose.

I do have another question for the minister. That is this: does the minister agree that the current bombarding of innocent civilians and infrastructure and buildings in Iran and around the Middle East is indeed legal?