Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Under section 12 of the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act, the Prime Minister alone can approve the allocation of staff to a member or senator. Was the Prime Minister or his office involved in approving the creation of a new position last year in either the office of Minister Canavan or the office of the then Nationals Whip?

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. I'm advised that the Nationals are provided with a number of personal staff positions as a share of the government's overall staffing pool. The distribution of those staff members between Nationals offices is a matter for the National Party. I'm further advised that at no time did the Nationals fill all vacant staffing positions. Now, as for the staffing moves between the offices the honourable member referred to, the Deputy Prime Minister addressed this in a statement on 10 February in which he said that he had not discussed Ms Campion's employment with me or my office. He confirmed that the Nationals were responsible for decisions relating to staffing in the offices of Nationals members—as I just said—and that the Prime Minister's office has an administrative role in informing the Department of Finance of changes.