Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

It gives me no pleasure to speak on this motion. It's something that none of us in this place should have to be in a position to do. I've been a member of this parliament for over 20 years. It is a job I take very seriously. It is an enormous privilege to be here. I say, particularly to some of the newer members of parliament, who have only really been here for six months or shorter times than that than me: who is the custodian of this institution? It is us. It is our job to uphold the traditions of this place. Who else is going to do that? It is our job to make sure that we uphold this institution, this incredibly privileged place that we stand in.

That is what this censure motion is about. It is not about whether the previous government did a good or poor job at COVID. There are other places where that will be debated and examined, and I think in history that will happen. It's not about that. It's not even about, as the member for Cook tried to put the proposition, whether he exercised any of the powers to which he had administrative responsibility. It is actually about the traditions of this place and the fundamental principle upon which we know our Westminster system relies—that is, ministerial responsibility.

When we have the privilege of being elected in this place, we take on incredibly important responsibilities. We are all here for different reasons, but for all of us it is to make this place a better nation. As I said, I've been a member of this place for over 20 years, and I care deeply about its institutions. We are here for a reason, and those institutions are here for a reason. We are here to represent the Australian people. Parliament is a place where we get things done. We serve the people. We improve the places they live and we improve the circumstances in which they live. None of us are here for ourselves.

Our very democracy is built on the simple idea that our government is accountable to the Australian people. This is the people's House. That is what it is. It is built fundamentally on the Westminster tradition, hundreds of years of democratic evolution. That is what we are custodians of in this place. That's why this censure motion matters so deeply.

A government is not just accountable to the people every three years; it is accountable to the people every day and every hour. That is what being voted into this place means. Every time we sit in this place, the government—the executive—is accountable to the Australian people through their elected representatives, or at least that is how it is supposed to be. That is how our democracy is supposed to work. It is called responsible government. Schoolkids learn about it every year when they come here. First-year law students learn about it. It is the fundamental basis for our administrative law system.

While we might have political differences, there should be one thing we absolutely and utterly agree on, and that is that the traditions of this place matter because they underpin the democratic traditions of this country and the hundreds of years of democratic evolution that they are based on. But what we have seen with the actions of the member for Cook, the former Prime Minister, is that they undermined the accountability, they undermined responsible government and they undermined the institutions of this parliament. As I said, it's not about whether he actually exercised those powers—in one instance, we do know that he did—it is the fact that he had these powers and that they were not disclosed to his ministers, to his cabinet, to the parliament or, through the parliament, to the people and that, therefore, that principle of responsible government and of ministerial accountability could not be upheld. That is what this censure is about.

For ministers to be accountable to the parliament and to the Australian people, you have to know who they are. It's that simple. You need to know who to hold to account. Who is responsible for making decisions? Who holds the power to administer the laws of that department? Nobody knew that the member for Cook was also the Minister for Health, the Minister for Finance, the Minister for Home Affairs, the Treasurer and the Minister for Industry, Science, Energy and Resources. The Australian people certainly didn't know it, we in the then opposition certainly didn't know it, his own cabinet didn't know it and not even the other ministers holding those portfolios knew it.

Many of us would remember, during the election campaign, when the then Prime Minister, in reference to workers getting a dollar pay rise, said, 'You can't afford a loose unit in the Lodge.' Well, that seems to be what we had with the member for Cook. It's simply extraordinary. Without accountability, you don't have democracy. That's why I'm speaking in support of this motion. Censuring any member of parliament, especially a former prime minister, is not something that we take lightly. It's a big thing to do. We understand that. And, again, it is something that this chamber should never, ever really have to do. But the former Prime Minister, the member for Cook, has shown through his actions—and even in his defence today—his disrespect for this place and, through us, for the Australian people. That cannot go unacknowledged.

I commend members of the crossbench who are supporting this motion, and I encourage members, particularly those who might be new to this place and who are potentially going be here for a long time, to ask themselves: if we don't stand up for this institution then who will? That is what this censure is about. Long after the member for Cook has gone and many of us here have gone, that's what you'll have to think about on this censure motion: did I stand up for the traditions of this parliament? Before you cast your vote, think about that. If this place doesn't stand up for responsible government, if this place doesn't stand up for the institutions, then who will?

We've seen in recent times in so many other countries the deliberate undermining of democratic institutions, and we've seen where that leads. We know that we don't want that to happen here in this country. If you don't add your voice to those calling out for even the most minimal level of ministerial accountability—actually letting the Australian people know who their ministers are—what will you support? What is important to you in the traditions of this place?

Of course, this censure is important, but it's not where we should end this topic. We have to make sure that this does not happen again. This wasn't an accident. This wasn't just an administrative failure where the former Prime Minister thought someone was going to do something and they didn't. This was deliberate. This was absolutely deliberate and intended. If the former Prime Minister would have us say that it was all for good reasons, I'm not sure that many of us here believe that.

That's why we all, in this place, must listen to the Bellreport, vote to enshrine the principles of responsible government and make sure that this does not happen again. The censure motion is important because it is saying: 'In this point in time, we want to defend the traditions of this parliament. We believe in responsible government. We know that that underpins the very principle of the democratic tradition that we uphold and that the former Prime Minister should be held to account for those actions.'

Of course, that's not the only thing this parliament needs to do. We need to establish the NACC, which I'm pleased to see we are very close to doing. We need to enforce tighter ministerial standards, embrace the recommendation of the Jenkins review and understand that we have an incredible privilege to be in this place. That privilege comes with enormous responsibilities, of which today is one. It will be a long road to restoring faith in our institutions—but do that we must, because we have seen the results in other countries when we do not do that—strengthening our democracy and moving past what is, frankly, a shameful episode in our political history. But this censure motion and our accountability reforms are the first step in this parliament taking control of its destiny and making sure that this does not happen again.

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