George Brandis Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General
My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Senator Wong. I refer the minister to the evaluation by the firm Hall and Partners Open Mind, relied upon in the ANAO audit of the multimillion-dollar carbon tax advertising campaign, which found that the effectiveness of the campaign was 'disappointing' and that: 'There was limited acceptance of key messages related to carbon pricing and household assistance.' Does the minister accept the findings of the independent evaluation upon which the ANAO report relied, that the $31½ million campaign is a disappointing failure?
Penny Wong SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation
2:01 pm
I am asked about the Audit Office report into the Clean Energy Future campaign. I am very pleased to respond on that report because that was a report that was invited by the Leader of the Opposition, who claimed the advertising was misleading, and the ANAO has confirmed a range of facts to which the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Abbott, pointed when he was asserting the campaign was misleading. The Audit Office has confirmed that it is a fact that around 500 companies will be covered by the carbon price—
George Brandis Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General
Mr President, I rise on a point of order. The minister is required to be directly relevant to the question. The question was about a consultant's report upon which the ANAO report relied and specific findings by the consultant—not about the findings of the ANAO itself on other matters.
Mark Arbib NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Sport
Mr President, on the point of order, Senator Wong is being directly relevant to the question. Senator Brandis might not like the answer, but she is being directly relevant.
Honourable senators interjecting—
John Hogg President
Order! The minister has one minute 22 remaining. I believe the minister is addressing the question. I am listening to the minister's answer closely, and the minister needs to come to the matter.
Penny Wong SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation
I can also confirm that the ANAO confirmed that a number of other statements that the opposition were complaining of were correct, including that the government will use more than half the carbon price revenue to assist households and that nine out of 10 households will receive assistance through tax cuts, increased family benefits or higher pensions or other payments.
In relation to the effectiveness or otherwise of the campaign, I do not have any briefing on the specific quote in a consultant's report to the ANAO to which Senator Brandis is referring, but I would say this: the opposition made a range of claims that were inaccurate, asserting that the facts in the campaign were false, and Mr Abbott's allegations have been found to be untrue, have been found to not be correct.
Stephen Conroy Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate
In other words: liar, liar, pants on fire!
Penny Wong SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation
I could take Senator Conroy's interjection, which is probably somewhat more pithy.
George Brandis Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General
2:04 pm
Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Given that the minister has been prepared to inform the Senate of some of the conclusions of the ANAO report, can I ask the minister to direct her mind to that conclusion of the ANAO report—this is the ANAO report itself, not the consultant—which finds that the campaign:
… did not demonstrate consistent adherence to internal guidance, the FMA Act and FMA Regulations.
Minister, why was it necessary to breach the government's own guidelines? (Time expired)
Penny Wong SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation
First, it is the case that the report identifies some concerns with processes adopted by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. This should not be confused with a conclusion that the campaign contained statements that were inaccurate. In fact, the report explicitly states:
While issues were identified with the sources cited by DCCEE for campaign statements, this did not mean that the statements themselves were wrong or could not be supported by other sources of information.
Isn't it interesting—the selective quoting of the opposition! I would remind those opposite: if you really care about transparency and you really care about making sure campaigns are accurate, one would not have ever got that impression from the way Senator Abetz and Howard government ministers used to run government advertising when they were in government.
George Brandis Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General
2:05 pm
Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Given that the government's own ANAO report finds that the campaign breached the government's own guidelines under the FMA Act to produce what the consultants concluded was a disappointing and ineffective campaign, how much more taxpayers' money will this government spend on its unlawful and ineffective advertising campaign?
Penny Wong SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation
2:06 pm
The campaign was not unlawful, and Senator Brandis knows that.
George Brandis Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General
No, it's just a breach of the law!
Penny Wong SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation
He knows that. He just said that in this Senate knowing that was correct. It says something about the honour of the man. Second, I would make this point: if those opposite want to talk about campaign advertising, perhaps they would like to look back to Work Choices.
George Brandis Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General
Mr President, I raise a point of order.
Penny Wong SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation
I know you do not want to talk about it, George.
George Brandis Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General
Mr President, you have ruled before that abuse of the opposition is not a directly relevant answer to a question about government policy. I ask you to enforce your earlier rulings.
Honourable senators interjecting—
John Hogg President
Order! There is no point of order, but comments should be directed to me in the chair.
Penny Wong SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation
Mr President, what precious petals they are today! They do not like to be reminded of the hundreds of millions of dollars they spent telling Australians that reducing workers' wages and conditions was great for them. They do not like to be reminded of spending taxpayers' money to tell parents that it was great for them to have to go into work without notice, that it was great for them to have their wages and conditions reduced. The reality is—
George Brandis Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General
Mr President, no part of this answer is directly relevant to anything other than the Howard government's Work Choices advertising campaign. There are only six seconds to go. You ought to conclude that the minister has defied your ruling.
John Hogg President
The minister has six seconds remaining in which to address the question. Minister, I draw your attention to the question.
Penny Wong SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation
In relation to the FMA system, as the senator would be aware, Finance sets the procurement guidelines— (Time expired)