Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I want to make a contribution here because I think there's an important discussion that the Senate needs to have about orders for the production of documents. I made a contribution on this at the end of last year. There was agreement to consider this in the Senate Procedure Committee. This extension of time now pushes that report from 4 February to 11 March. It was tight towards the end of last year, so the government accepts the need for that to occur. But I think it is worth the Senate as a whole being aware of the concerns the government has around the use of orders for the production of documents in the way they are being utilised. We've got another example of that today with Senator Payman, with another 11 orders for the production of documents.

I'll go back to the remarks I made last time, which were that, historically, orders for the production of documents have been, in a sense, the highest power of this chamber to call for documents, particularly when they're not available through other means, such as seeking them from ministers or getting them through Senate committees or FOI. There are a whole range of other avenues that members are able to use to seek information. But the way they're being utilised at the moment is that they are the first port of call. They're very broad. They're coming in a way that makes it almost impossible to comply with them.

When I have raised these issues, there haven't been any responses to that in terms of the way OPDs are being drafted. They continue to be very broad. They continue to seek documents that are already available online. What that then means is there are all these compliance OPDs as well. I just think there is the opportunity for the Senate to think about how this section is being used.

I accept that we made some changes about formal motions, and this is the result of those changes. But we have to have a way where formal motions and that section of the program work properly. At the moment, it's not working properly, and I think the power of the Senate to order the production of documents is being diluted by the approach that's being taken. I think that is something that this Senate should think about.

I just wanted to make those comments and note that there has been good engagement on the Procedure Committee, where representatives of the Senate meet to think about the ways that we can deal with this section of the program better. For those that don't sit on the Procedure Committee, I think it is worth engaging in it. And I'm very happy to talk to anybody about how we can get formal motions, particularly the general business part of this program, working better so that orders for the production of documents are not essentially motions in disguise, which is what they've become. They've become a way to move a motion when they're not able to be moved under that section. I would ask that the Senate consider that, and the Procedure Committee will come back with its report in March.