Gary Nairn (Eden-Monaro, Liberal Party, Special Minister of State) Share this | Hansard source

Before I respond to this motion I will explain, in case people reading the Hansard might be a bit perplexed, that there is an unusual sequence of events in the case of this motion. I, on the government side, have facilitated the raising of this private members business motion. Obviously, we will be opposing it. Some might find that a bit strange, but that is how the system works with disallowable instruments. If we did not facilitate the process, the regulations would be disallowed. So there is a little bit of instruction for the people reading Hansard.

The government will not support this disallowance motion. It really is simply a piece of cheap populism from the Labor Party, which does not have any policies. I have to say, it is a real stunt. The member for Wills has come in here and done his bit and disappeared. It is hypocrisy of the first order, and I will explain why. But, before I do, I might, while the member for Calare is here, just mention something for his benefit. The member for Calare talked about the lack of enforcement for newsletters and things that are printed. That is not the case. There are rules about how the entitlement can be used. In fact, if it is used incorrectly members are asked to repay the cost of what they have sent out. And it has happened. As Special Minister of State I am aware of a number of circumstances where members on both sides of the House have sent out material inappropriately. They have had material in their newsletters not in accordance with the rules or have sent material out to the wrong locations and have had to repay the cost of that to the Commonwealth. So there is enforcement, absolutely, on what you can and cannot do.

The printing allowance was introduced by the Labor government in 1990 as part of the Parliamentary Entitlements Act 1990. The printing allowance was not capped by Labor. It was unlimited. There was no restriction. It was an absolutely unlimited entitlement. So, from 1990, the Labor Party put in place an unlimited entitlement. Some members were spending huge amounts of money—anything up to $400,000 a year—on printing.

In September 2001 the Prime Minister announced that, as of 1 January 2002, the entitlement would be capped at $125,000 per annum as part of a comprehensive package of entitlement reforms. So it was this government that actually put a cap on it.

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