Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Honourable Member for Maribyrnong from moving the following motion forthwith:

That the House:

(1) notes the:

(a) Prime Minister's failure to lead an 'open and transparent' government, despite promising the Australian people he would;

(b) repeated failure of the Minister for Immigration to answer questions inside and outside the Parliament; and

(c) Government's setting aside of ministerial responsibility to pursue media spin; and

(2) calls on the Minister for Immigration to immediately explain:

(a) details about the boat carrying Somali asylum seekers that arrived in Darwin on 11 November 2013;

(b) reported statements by BASARNAS concerning the Australian interception of an asylum seeker vessel and subsequent actions and events on or around November 7; and

(c) how the Government intends to pursue its election commitment to turn back boats to Indonesia and buy back boats in fishing villages.

Why is it that Australians can find out more about Australian government policies in the Jakarta Post than from the hapless Minister for Immigration and Border Protection? The government opposite promised to be an open-door and transparent government. They made it incredibly clear and made a lot of noise that they would in fact be an open government. Many Australians, I suspect, have not signed up to a subscription to the Jakarta Post. Instead, they hope that our own media will be able to tell them what the government are doing on an important issue like boats. But can they find in our own media all of the details? No, they cannot. They need to rely on Indonesian newspapers to tell them what the Australian government are unwilling to tell us.

Before the 7 September election, these people opposite said they were going to be the big champions of accountability. Instead, the Australian government is treating Australians very poorly—

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