At the request of Senator Bragg, I move:

That the Senate requires the Economics Legislation Committee to invite the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Ombudsman of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, Mr David Locke, to attend the committee's 2022-23 Budget estimates hearings on Thursday, 10 November 2022 at 9 am to give one hour of evidence.

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Leave is granted for one minute.

It is not appropriate for AFCA to appear at budget estimates. AFCA is not a government department or regulatory agency. It is a not-for-profit public company and it is not publicly funded. AFCA have made themselves available to parliament for oversight and transparency through various committees. Senator Bragg had the opportunity to ask questions of AFCA when they appeared before the Senate Economics Legislation Committee as recently as 14 October. The government does not support a precedent where the Senate as a whole negotiate witness lists for respective committee hearings. That should remain a role for individual committees to establish. This is a political stunt, as we often see from Senator Bragg, and we will not support this motion.

Question agreed to.