Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

That's two government speakers in a row, Mr Speaker. It's a bit of a sign that the opposition doesn't really want to talk about this.

I remember, as a lot of Australians do, the day when Tony Abbott knighted Sir Prince Philip! Some commentators and pundits were distraught, as they concluded that it was the death of irony—that comedians would henceforth be out of business, as nothing could ever be weirder, let's be honest, and also downright hysterical, in a slapstick, WTF kind of way, Deputy Speaker. The former, disgraced, speaker Bronwyn Bishop actually threw member after member out of the chamber—including the member for Franklin, at that time, because she literally could not stop laughing during question time.

But then came the previous Prime Minister, who secretly appointed himself as Treasurer, finance minister, health minister, industry minister, resources minister, home affairs minister—and who knows what else. You couldn't make this up. No-one in the years before now could have imagined it necessary to pass a law so that, when ministers are appointed as ministers, Australians are told about it—a new law to say, in our democracy, 'You can't have secret ministers'! Now, this bill, the Ministers of State Amendment Bill 2022, is only necessary because of the bizarre actions of the previous Prime Minister, the member for Cook—

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