Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) | Hansard source

Well, that is exactly why we need to suspend—because the government does not want any scrutiny in relation to the tax bills that were passed. This is a significant motion. It is all about ministerial accountability, something that this government promised to the Australian people prior to both the 2020 to election and the 2025 election—that it would have no issues with. Lo and behold, that is why this censure is needed. It is a serious motion. But then again it's also serious when a treasurer asks the parliament to pass legislation that is seriously flawed, and that is why we seek to censure both the Treasurer and the Minister representing the Treasurer in this place. Why? Because this censure motion concerns, as I said, a serious failure of ministerial accountability. What is ministerial accountability? It's actually fronting the parliament and being able to explain the changes that you are making to the legislation, and that is something that the Treasurer, in that interview on the weekend, was unable to do.

What this government doesn't seem to understand is that this motion is all about the fact that it has failed the Australian people. If ministers ask parliament to legislate what they themselves say are some of the most serious and wide-ranging tax changes that have ever gone through the parliament, I would have thought we'd be entitled to ensure the Treasurer actually knows what he is speaking about. Sadly, the parliament has now been shown that is not true. And that is why this censure motion is so important. Ministerial accountability, as we know, means more than just introducing legislation. It means knowing your legislation. It means explaining your legislation. It means being honest with the parliament about its defects, not just after the parliament has passed the legislation. And on any of those measures the Treasurer has failed. That is why this suspension motion is so important—so that the Senate can properly debate the failures of the Treasurer.

If the Treasurer cannot be honest about the defects in the legislation, then how can the Australian people have any trust in what the Treasurer has to say? This was all about legislating first and fixing the defects later. And the Treasurer himself has admitted that those on the other side have actually legislated a widow's tax. That is exactly right. So, again, this censure motion is important. The Senate should suspend standing orders so we can properly debate the failures of the Treasurer.