Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today's MPI really is about accountability, and today's question time was about bringing to account the behaviour and the actions of the minister. So far today, not one government member has defended the minister. No-one has got up and said, 'She's done a good job.' No-one has said, 'Well, she's achieved all these great things.' No-one is backing in the minister. That's because those on the other side simply do not believe in what the minister has done. If they had, they would be referencing it. The previous minister at the table, Minister Laundy, gave a spirited defence of everything other than Minister Cash. You have to put this into context: this is the same minister who, last Friday, didn't lodge his own nomination form to sit in this parliament. The New South Wales Liberal Party has had to extend and reopen nominations. It's bad enough for the member for Gilmore sitting here, who is now confirmed to be under challenge from a Mr Schultz in her own electorate; we're now seeing ministers fail to complete the most basic of paperwork to sit in this parliament.

Nothing is clearer when it comes to accountability than with respect to the Minister for Jobs and Innovation and her desperate attempt to escape any scrutiny over her involvement, and that of her office, in the leak to the media of the Registered Organisations Commission raid on the AWU offices. I will spend some time going through the history of this, which demonstrates very clearly the lack of accountability from the minister in the parliament. For seven months the minister has dodged, weaved and hidden behind whiteboards. I did laugh today when she was asked about the whiteboard incident in one of her rare media performances, and she said with a straight face:

Do you think you were surprised? You should have seen the look on my face.

We couldn't, because she was wheeling the whiteboard to hide from people.

We know the facts. In late October last year the minister misled the Senate five times by falsely denying that her office was the source of the leak, but lo and behold, after some time and reflection, a few hours later she walked in and said that her office was the source of the leak to the media and that her staff had informed unlawfully. The AFP quite rightly then launched a criminal investigation into the leak, and despite fessing up and owning that her office was the source of the leak, the minister won't disclose if she has been questioned or interviewed by the AFP—a pretty simple yes or no.

I don't say this lightly, but I believe this reeks of a cover-up. The minister is running away from any accountability. Now we're reaching a tipping point where the Prime Minister needs to reflect if Minister Cash is still the best person for the job. At this stage it appears she clearly does not want to be in that job. Budget estimates happen once a year, an important function in holding a government to account. It is Minister Cash's job as a minister of the Crown to turn up and answer questions. It is incumbent upon ministers to be there and answer questions truthfully, yet she is not there today and abandoned it yesterday. Instead, despite a unanimous request by the Senate committee for her to return to estimates later this afternoon to face the music, the minister has failed to offer any excuse as to why she believes she is above the standard set for representatives of the people.

It is not good enough. Members opposite should get up and criticise her for not doing her job and not being held accountable. We are accountable in this place. Forget all the rhetoric and nonsense that the government is saying. The minister is on trial today. She is the one responsible. She is the one avoiding scrutiny. Perhaps the minister was not in the building this morning. She may in good conscience have had more important parliamentary work to attend to. But I'm advised that the minister was in the building during Senate estimates today, sitting down instead with the member for Gilmore making Facebook videos. The topic of discussion? Providing flexibility for older Australians when it comes to working. I know the member for Gilmore is under pressure because she is being challenged, despite the Prime Minister offering her support— (Time expired)

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