Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

This is a solemn and sad occasion, and nobody wants it to be like this. But, to me, public trust is too precious to waste, and the quality of our parliament and our democracy must be defended at all costs. The pandemic days were truly dark, and I pay my respects to everybody in this House who played a role in keeping our country safe and prosperous. I also pay my respects to the member for Cook, who led the government of the day. It could not have been easy. Equally, I pay my respects to the Australian people, who, in their homes and in their businesses, faced enormous challenges with courage.

That is the point I want to make. The people of Australia understood how difficult a challenge we were facing. They faced their own darkest days. We owe to them transparency and accountability of government in the most difficult times. They can handle that truth. If those powers that the member for Cook spoke about were indeed needed, then the people of Australia would have understood, because we do understand and trust our governments and we have that maturity in our democracy. We owe the people of Australia the transparency and accountability of actions in this House.

So I rise in support of this censure motion. As I said, it is a sad day and a very solemn day to pass a censure motion on any member of the House, particularly a former Prime Minister. But trust in government, in democracy, in this House and in our institutions is precious. It is a gentle flame. We can feed it so it glows, or we can snuff it out so it flickers. We will know when the trust is completely gone. Our job in this House is to stoke the fire so it brightens and lights all of us in our country.

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