Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

As the member for Lalor rightly says, they tapped the map. They have failed to do the right thing by the broader community; they do the right thing by a powerful section of the community—a section of the community which has enough resources to defend itself instead gets defended by this government. And obviously, this is why we say that the kind of thing we are seeing here with CAMAC is not about reform, it is not about efficiency, and it is not about deregulation; it is about getting rid of someone who provides frank and fearless advice. You do not just have to be Gillian Triggs in this country to feel the heat of a government that refuses to acknowledge frank and fearless advice. This is their modus operandi. Their modus operandi is to get rid of anyone who stands in their way by having independent thought and frank advice. In this case, it costs the economy—as has already been identified by the Law Council, who say that for every year that CAMAC has been in place, CAMAC has provided a substantive report that is well-thought through, and that can advance the case for reform—that is every single year. And so, this is not a demonstration of efficiency; this is the most superior demonstration of cutting your nose off to spite your face. And it is all being done to save $1 million. Why would you do that? The argument advanced by coalition is: 'Well, we will just wrap them up into Treasury. We will be able to get this advice. When we consult with the private sector, they will give us this advice'—as if the private sector, and the type of talent that would drive the type of advice that CAMAC would normally provide, were just going to do it gratis. The idea that the private sector will be a charity to the federal government, and that they will just provide this advice for free is rubbish. They will not. They will, understandably, do what is in their own interests in advancing their own case, when they consult with Treasury in the future on the types of matters that would have been dealt with by CAMAC. But, if Treasury wants the type of advice that was once provided by CAMAC, they will not be getting it for free. They will have to pay for it. Imagine how much in consultants' fees—and we will be watching!—Treasury will be racking up to get this advice. And you know what? It is going to be more than $1 million in total.

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