Andrew Leigh (Fenner, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

The standing orders should not be suspended, because it is vital that Australia hear from the Leader of the Opposition on matters of high importance. One such matter of high importance is what the government knew about these payments that were being made. Standing orders should not be suspended, because it is vital that the parliament hear from the Leader of the Opposition on the government's culpability on these matters, whether the government picked up a full year ago, when it was reported in the Financial Review on 23 October 2019, that Daniel Crennan was being paid more than the Chief Justice. You'd think that would ring some bells. You would think that would make someone think, 'Maybe that's a Remuneration Tribunal issue.' But it clearly caused no-one to take issue. Standing orders should not be suspended, because it is vital to know why the government is cutting the budget of the Auditor-General at the very time when it is the Auditor-General that has highlighted the issues that are before the Treasurer. An issue of ASIC's making inappropriate payments was flagged not by the government—they didn't notice it—but by the Auditor-General, who has asked for a $6.5 million increase in his budget.

Standing orders should not be suspended, because it is vital that the House instead have the opportunity to consider why it is that this government, which can rack up a trillion dollars of Liberal debt, can't spare $6.5 million to see the Audit Office continue its work. The Auditor-General isn't asking to double his work; he's saying he's been dipping into his reserve funds just in order to keep the operation going. You'd have to think that they don't want the Auditor-General to do his work. They know that he is the bloke who discovered sports rorts and who discovered air rorts.

Standing orders should not be suspended, because it is vital that the Leader of the Opposition instead have the opportunity to ask this government why they are reducing the budget of the Auditor-General. The Auditor-General has saved the taxpayer money. Daniel Crennan and James Shipton have repaid those payments, putting hundreds of thousands of dollars back into the pockets of taxpayers as a result of his careful investigations. Standing orders should not be suspended, because it is vital that this House consider why the Auditor-General's budget should be cut at a time when he's saving the government money.

Gosh knows the government need the money to be saved, given that they've been splashing it around on their mates, mates such as the former Liberal staffer Peter Crone, who has been given a $242,000 job in the National Bushfire Recovery Agency. When asked whether he was aware of the bushfire recovery credentials of Mr Crone, the head of the agency said he was not.

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