Zoe Daniel (Goldstein, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

A censure motion is one thing; an apology is quite another. Had the former Prime Minister taken appropriate responsibility for his actions, I would not have stood up today. We are all privileged to stand in this place, and I am keenly aware of the trust placed in me by my community, a community who in large part voted for integrity out of frustration and a deep desire for a return to trust in leadership. Therefore I do stand today to say that accountability is at the heart of the Westminster system of government and at the heart of our democracy. If members of our parliament and our country don't know who is responsible for what, how can there be any accountability? Unfortunately, what we've learned in the months since the election was all too evident in the lead-up to polling day, and the voters had already worked it out.

I came to this place after I'd learnt that the previous government had refused to listen to experts and experienced emergency services chiefs in the lead-up to the Black Summer bushfires. The former Prime Minister was fond of talking about the Canberra bubble, but if anyone was living in a parallel universe it was him. And the penny has apparently still not dropped. Others can say more, but I will add that, having directly witnessed the evolution of destructive gaslighting in the United States and its damage to trust and democracy, I believe this has been a dangerous moment in our history. I won't labour the point other than to say that this is a disappointing and sad episode and that it's unfortunate that it's come to this.

A unqualified apology from the former Prime Minister would have shown that he finally understands the series of mistakes he made and how damaging it was to the integrity of our democracy and to the voters who elected him to the highest office of the land in good faith. But, yet again, what the Australian people got from the former Prime Minister was more of the same. Therefore, I support this motion.

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