Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Hansard source

One lesson from the royal commission is: when governments are warned about harmful policies, don't shoot the messenger. But in his statement to the House on Monday, the member for Cook repeatedly attacked the royal commission's credibility, doing what he does best. Having gaslit the nation for four years, he's now gaslighting the royal commission. In exonerating himself on Monday, the member for Cook used coded and loaded words to discredit the royal commission.

Let me repeat some of the coded and loaded language of the member for Cook. He dismissed the findings as 'disproportionate', 'wrong', 'unsubstantiated', 'contradicted by clear evidence'. He accused the finding as 'not credible or reasonable', 'unfair', 'retroactive'. He painted the findings as 'allegations', 'unreasonable', 'untenable', 'false' and 'speculative'. He fumed that that the royal commission was 'speculative and wrong'. He verbally punched 'wrong', 'unsubstantiated', 'absurd'. He delegitimised the royal commission as 'quasi-legal'—as if somehow there was a question mark on the fairness of the royal commission. Interestingly, the Leader of the Opposition commended the speech by the member for Cook.

While the royal commissioner isn't here to speak for herself, the royal commissioner anticipated such fake news attacks. In volume 1 of the report, pages 6 to 7 directly address questions of procedural fairness and the standard of proof.

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