Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks, Bob! Responsible government in Australia has been undermined by the progressive defunding and disempowerment of what was once an effective and independent public service. Responsible government in Australia has been constrained by the loss of the concept of ministerial responsibility. Where once ministers lost their jobs for not declaring a Paddington Bear at Customs, we now see ministers evade responsibility for actions which result in the deep distress and suicide of Australians—as demonstrated in the former government's Prime Minister's and multiple ministers' shameful recent testimony to the robodebt royal commission.

But the most startling breach of responsible government occurred in a 14-month period from March 2020 to May 2021, when the member for Cook, acting as the Prime Minister, was secretly appointed to administer five departments of state in addition to that of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. These appointments were not disclosed to the parliament or to the public. The secrecy of these appointments has been widely condemned. That eminent professor of constitutional law Professor Anne Twomey said this lack of transparency is 'indicative of a lack of respect for the institutions of government and of the general public'. The Solicitor-General said that the actions of the former Prime Minister 'fundamentally undermined' the principles of responsible government. In her report on the appointment of the former Prime Minister to administer multiple departments, the Hon. Virginia Bell found that these actions were 'corrosive of trust in parliament'. My Kooyong constituents deeply value our rich British parliamentary heritage, our constitutional conventions and our system of parliamentary democracy. They want their representative to uphold and protect the tenets of responsible and transparent government.

This bill, to ensure greater transparency for executive appointments, shouldn't be necessary. But it will ensure that no future Prime Minister can ride roughshod over the most fundamental principles of responsible government. For that reason, I commend this bill to the House.

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