Kelvin Thomson (Wills, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Public Accountability and Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

Prior to question time I was speaking to my amendment that ‘the House condemns the government for allowing ministerial standards and accountability to decline at the same time as ministerial salaries are increasing’. I had mentioned to the House in some detail my concerns about the ministerial standards that were being applied to the AWB wheat export scandal. I also mentioned earlier today, in another place, the lack of government standards and accountability concerning industrial relations advertising and the way the government’s industrial relations advertising contract—a cool $55 million—happened to go to the Liberal Party’s advertiser, Dewey Horton, in particular Mr Ted Horton.

Time will prevent me from going through a more comprehensive list of shortcomings and failures in standards of government accountability and administration. But I do want to mention one other example, and that concerns the economic consulting firm ACIL Tasman, which has been, as the Financial Review described it, embroiled in a cybercrime scandal.

We had the departmental secretary for the Department of Health and Ageing, Jane Halton, tell the Senate estimates committee that the department was currently considering what action it should take concerning contracts it had with ACIL Tasman following criminal charges being laid against the company’s former chief executive, former director and a former employee for industrial espionage.

At the time the departmental secretary was talking to the Senate estimates committee, the Department of Health and Ageing, the Minister for Health and Ageing, had taken no action whatsoever and ACIL Tasman remained on the health department’s panel and continued to provide consulting services.

I have to point out, to be fair to the government, that this is not the position that has been taken by the Office of the Australian Safety and Compensation Council, which sought legal advice in early 2004 immediately on learning of the ACIL Tasman investigation—indeed, they stopped using ACIL Tasman services. So it was a matter of some surprise and concern to me that the Minister for Health and Ageing had not shown the same sort of leadership and had not taken the same sort of action as had been taken by the Office of the Australian Safety and Compensation Council.

It is regrettable that ministerial standards have been falling in this place over the past 10 years. The Prime Minister came to office armed with a promise to lift ministerial standards of accountability and he introduced a code of conduct. Unfortunately, when he applied that code of conduct there were ministers and parliamentary secretaries who were simply falling over like ninepins. This caused the Prime Minister to take fright and, ever since, he has vigorously hung onto ministers, whatever their sins and indiscretions—although I notice that, quietly, with some ministers, like the member for Dawson, he has taken action against them at a later date.

Standards of ministerial accountability have been progressively falling in this place. This is to the country’s detriment. It will certainly be to our detriment in relation to the AWB scandal, where there will be an international price to be paid for the corruption that has gone on, for the kickbacks that have gone on, for the cover-up that has gone on. It is regrettable that these standards of accountability have been declining. I urge the House to support my amendment and I urge the House to urge the government to improve its standards of ministerial accountability and performance.

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