Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lalor for her question. The shameless stacking of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal by those opposite is well known. The former government installed as many as 85 former Liberal MPs, failed Liberal candidates, former Liberal staffers and other close associates of the Liberal Party, without any merit based selection process, on salaries worth hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money. I'm very pleased to see that the former Attorney-General Senator Cash, one of the ministers responsible for that shameless stacking, has joined us in the chamber. This has had serious consequences for those Australians who rely on the AAT to review government decisions, which often have huge, life-altering impacts. It might be a person with a disability who's seeking support through the NDIS or a veteran who's seeking compensation for a service injury. Thanks to the former government's shameless stacking, the AAT has become dysfunctional, with extraordinarily large and growing backlogs causing delays of many months and, in some areas, even years. It's unacceptable. It is another mess left by the former government, which the Albanese government has wasted no time in cleaning up.

On 16 December last year, I announced that we would abolish the AAT and replace it with a new administrative review body that will be composed of members who have been chosen through a transparent and merit based appointment system—unlike the stacking process used by the former government, of which the last practitioner was Senator Cash. We will ensure Australia's system of administrative review serves the interests of all Australians, not just the interests of the Liberal Party. It won't be a Liberal Party job agency as it was under those opposite and as it was under Senator Cash. And, unlike those opposite, we will deliver on the promises we make.

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