Andrew Gee (Calare, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of this motion. It is a very important motion for the constituents that we represent. I think that, when our constituents send us to this place and we have the opportunity to ask questions on issues affecting our nation but also our local communities, our constituents want to get answers to those questions. A really good example of that occurred earlier this week, when I asked about a project in my electorate called Dixons Long Point and whether the government would support that project and what happened to the $27.8 million that was sitting in the kitty for that project. I asked, 'Where has it gone, and why can't that money be spent improving the existing road even if the government doesn't want to spend another dollar on that project?' Unfortunately, we just didn't get an answer on it. What happened was the answer, I would say, degenerated into petty pointscoring between the government and opposition, which was very disappointing because the constituents of our area want to know what's happening with that project and were really disappointed, I think, that we didn't get the information that we needed. So that's why I'm supporting this motion, and I think the government should be supporting it as well. As the member for Warringah stated, those members who are in government were once in opposition and they would've been supporting this. I know it's now perhaps a case of poachers turned gamekeepers, but, from the point of view of our constituents, we want these questions to mean something. I know that I speak on behalf of my crossbench colleagues here: we want to turn question time into answer time and make it count for the people that we represent. They expect nothing less.

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