Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can I just say that I take what has happened today extremely seriously, despite the fact of the comedy and theatre that we just had presented to us by the five-minute contribution from the Manager of Government Business in the Senate. We are here for a really, really serious issue today. We made changes yesterday because this government continuously refused to be transparent and provide information that this chamber had asked the Senate to deliver and asked the government to provide.

The minister comes in here and talks about conventions being torn up. I think the most important convention in this place is the accountability and transparency of the government. This was a government that came to power in 2022, promising a new way, promising accountability and transparency, and they have been about as transparent as a brick. They have no respect for the institution of the Senate. They have no respect that the result that came from yesterday was that you didn't answer the question that was put before you to deliver a document so that not only the Senate could scrutinise what was going on but the Australian public, who have the right to see this document, could scrutinise. It was the will of the Senate that that document be delivered. To come in here and be so dismissive and so theatrical is actually a reflection of the contempt which this government holds of the institution of the Senate.

We also saw today, in the other place, the lengths that this government is prepared to go to in order to wreak retribution on anybody who dares to disagree with it. For the executive of the Labor government to think that it is okay to threaten members of this parliament in the ways that they have attempted to do—not just over this latest incident but in previous incidents as well—shows a vindictive government that is prepared to do anything to get its own way. The simple answer for the government—it's a really simple answer: all they need to do is release the document. Release the document that the minister herself promised to release in the middle of 2023. We're not asking the government to release a document that came into their possession last week, last month or even, for that matter, last year; we are asking the government to release a document that came into their position 2½ years ago, and, at the time, the minister said that she would release that document.

Don't get me wrong. In terms of the questions that were attempted to be asked by the government today, they could all have been asked if they had been important enough to the government for them to actually put them on the list for question time. They all could have been asked. Every week in this place, under convention of the agreement between the parties, the government gets at least two questions on Monday, three on Tuesday, three on Wednesday and three on Thursday. And guess what? This week, they got two questions on Monday, three on Tuesday, three on Wednesday and three on Thursday, so there was no restriction whatsoever from the normal, accepted number of questions that the opposition got. What we sought to do by our motion yesterday was to try and attempt to hold the government to account to allow us greater scrutiny, because the very act of why this motion was moved was your lack of preparedness for any scrutiny at all. We talk about this one particular document which was the reason for the actions of yesterday. This is just a chain of behaviour that we have seen from this government in their refusal, time after time, to release documents that the majority of this chamber, with the will of this chamber, has asked them to release. They came in here with some of the most incredibly spurious reasons as to why they shouldn't answer those questions.

So what I would say to the government is: if you really are serious about the transparency and accountability that you said that you were going to bring to this new parliament, then release the document that was the subject of this particular motion but consider into the future that it is your responsibility as the government to make sure that you do not withhold information from the Australian public that they have every right to see. Under our system of responsible government, the executive is accountable to the parliament.

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was going to make a contribution tonight about the chaos of those opposite and the new relationship—well, it is a continual relationship, really—between the Greens, the crossbench, the Nationals and the Liberals. I'm not sure how many Liberals and Nationals are still on the same team. I was going to talk about the chaos and the undermining that's going on with their leader. I think that was so evident today in question time, but in fact it started yesterday. I missed that yesterday. I thought: 'Why would they do that? Why would they want to prevent government senators from being able to ask questions about issues that impact their communities? After all, we take very seriously our roles as senators in representing our states.

We know this weekend the result of the largest investment in Medicare is going to be rolled out. There are changes to ensure greater access to GPs and bulk-billing. We also know that this government, the Labor government, has actually invested more money in women's health than any previous government. These are things that we need to talk about, and we need to ensure that Australians—particularly in my home state of Tasmania—know about them. We know that the largest investment in aged care is being rolled out this weekend as well to ensure older Australians get the support they need to stay living at home for as long as possible.

We know that when people on that side were in government they did nothing in terms of investing in women's health—nothing. We know that in the 10 years they were in government they had five failed ministers for aged care. Not one of them actually had an interest. They did nothing except undermine and run aged care down in this country. We also note that it is in their DNA. They don't care about Medicare. They don't care whether people can see a doctor when they need to. They did nothing.

We have introduced this under probably one of the best ever health ministers, Minister Mark Butler, who not only has overseen greater investment in aged care and the foundations of building a better future for older Australians but has done exactly the same thing with the government to ensure that there is greater investment in women's health. These are good things. We know he is a great protector, just as everyone on this side of the Senate and in the other place is. We will fight every day for Medicare and investment in it because that gives us universal health care. It gives Australians an opportunity to see a GP when they need one.

We've also introduced urgent care clinics. What an amazing success they have proven to be. The urgent care clinic in Launceston is one of if not the very best in the country, with the number of doctors that work there, the continuity of service and the number of people that are using it, keeping out of accident and emergency.

This is another demonstration. It's not just when their shadow ministers, such as Mr Hastie, resign to put pressure on the Leader of the Opposition; it is also the fact that they've split on a bill. They will not accept the science of climate change. They will not accept that there needs to be a reduction in emissions. This opposition is the worst opposition ever, and do you know why? Because they cannot come to terms with the Australian people's rejection of them at the last election. Why did the Australian people do that? Because those opposite had no policies. They had 22 energy policies while they were in government, and they delivered not one, yet they come in and lecture us about being the gurus of financial management and the economy. How many surpluses did you deliver in those 10 years? None—zero. How many have we delivered since we've been in government? It's a very stark difference.

So don't come in here trying to lecture us about transparency when you have now entered into your 'no-alition' with the Greens—when it suits you. You're in bed with the Greens and the crossbench, and, on a good day, when the Nationals are together as one National Party and when you're together as one Liberal Party, you actually get together. The Australian people see you for what you are, and that is that you were a failure in government and you're a failed opposition.