Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Leave granted.

Hon. Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There well may be. As has been widely reported, I resigned from my ministry on Sunday 2 February due to breaches of the Prime Minister's Statement of Ministerial Standards. I publicly apologised for this, and today I wish to further apologise to the Senate—so it's lovely that we just had a vote so that we could all be here. I do not believe the gifted membership of the Australian Clay Target Association or my paid membership of Field & Game Australia contributed any real or apparent conflict of interest. However, I acknowledge my mistake in failing to declare these as required in the Statement of Ministerial Standards in a timely way.

I've also updated my Senate statement of interests, the guidance on which states that senators must declare being an office holder or where they've contributed more than $300 to an organisation. I am a proud member of Field & Game Australia, the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia, the Australian Deer Association and the Country Women's Association. I'm not an office holder of any of these organisations, nor have I provided them with any donations, which is a declarable requirement under the Senate statement of interests. I'm no longer a member of the Australian Clay Target Association and, therefore, Wangaratta Clay Target Club, my membership of which commenced on 29 January 2019 and ceased on 30 December 2019. Having reviewed all my memberships in the recent weeks, I've become aware that I was a member of the Victorian Farmers Federation, AgForce's Country Connection, the Melbourne Cricket Club and the fabulous Yarrawonga Mulwala golf club during 2019. All these memberships have since ceased.

None of my memberships have caused real or apparent conflicts of interest to my role either as minister or as senator for Victoria. However, I've chosen to fully disclose all my memberships to the Senate on this day to ensure complete transparency both to the Senate and to the broader Australian community. I've been a senator for nine years and have the deepest respect for this chamber of parliament, which is so important to our democracy. I regret any confusion caused concerning my declaration of interests, and I apologise to each and every one of my fellow senators for my transgression with regard to the register of interests.