Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This tragedy is something that affected all of us in North Queensland. It is a tragedy, and anything anyone can do to make sure that it is not at some time in the future repeated is something we should all accept and strive for. I fly a lot in North Queensland in this particular area. It is incidents like this that make one wonder if one’s commitment to serving outlying areas is worth the effort if there is not a possibility of flying safely in the remoter parts of Queensland.

Unfortunately I have been busy today and have not been able to hear the full debate so I am unaware really of what has been said apart from what was said by the previous speaker. I have also been approached by the father of the policewoman who was killed in the accident, although I have not as yet had the opportunity to speak with him. Suffice to say that it is an area that concerns me and concerns most people in North Queensland, who are more intimately aware of the incident and the problems that may have occurred—certainly they are more intimately aware of the results of the accident. I understand that the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, the ATSB, has already inquired into the incident a couple of times and that a further report is coming in the very near future. I suspect that this attempt by Senator O’Brien—well-meaning though it perhaps may be—is again a little premature. I think the Senate would be well advised to leave this particular inquiry at this stage and see what the further report of the ATSB does elucidate.

Some people have made the comment that, since the government got a majority in the Senate, the Senate is just a rubber stamp. That is quite clearly not true. I think it needs to be emphasised that government members in the Senate discharge their duties appropriately and accept that they have a greater obligation, now that the government does have a majority in the Senate, to more carefully peruse government legislation and decisions. I think that has been demonstrated fairly clearly in relation to the migration debate earlier on and in relation to the communications package in the previous month. There is also an ongoing inquiry into the amendments to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. I think all of that demonstrates that government senators participate in the process perhaps, I might say, more seriously than opposition senators. Opposition senators very often—I am not saying it is the case in this particular instance—enter into an issue to try to score political points and to try to oppose for opposition’s sake and not always with the approach of trying to do what we are really charged with doing in this Senate.

I have a view that government senators have a greater responsibility now that we do have a majority. As I say, I think you will find that the evidence in the last six months or so clearly demonstrates that government senators are accepting that responsibility and discharging it appropriately. Those who might have suggested that our opposition to this motion is another whitewash because the minister picked up the phone should not be under that misapprehension any more than the minister might be under that misapprehension—because there are many of us in this Senate who do intend to do what is right in the interests of the government, and that means in the interests of what is right for Australia.

Our government is a government that has shown that its real commitment is to Australia and what is in Australia’s best interest, but it does not always get that right. Sometimes issues are so complex that ministers themselves cannot be intimately aware of all the details. The public servants who advise ministers do so very ably, very honestly, very fairly and very competently, but they are not the source of all wisdom either. I think senators—from their wide experience in meeting with the people out there, understanding what is happening out there and having wide discussions with people out there—at times can contribute to the debate in a way that public servants living in this city, no matter how competent, honest and able they are, cannot quite appreciate. That is why I think that there are many issues where the Senate can add value to the process for the purposes of adding value to the process—not for the purposes of scoring a political point and not for the purposes of opposing for opposition’s sake but for the purposes of ensuring that government decisions and government legislation enhance the government’s goals and outlooks and get a better result for what the government is trying to achieve.

I will not be supporting this particular motion today, notwithstanding the fact that I understand the sentiments of it are genuine and perhaps appropriate. I think we are a tad early in setting up a completely new inquiry into this. I understand that the government is concerned about this, as are many members of parliament, particularly those of us who come from North Queensland, where the accident had greater impact. It is not an issue that is going to go away quickly; it is an issue that we will try to get to the bottom of. But I do not think we should be doing anything that interferes with the processes that are in place at this time to get to that result. So I am hopeful, if not confident, that the processes will get to the bottom of the issue and will make the appropriate recommendations so that these sorts of tragedies do not occur in the future. I can assure senators that there are many of us on this side of the Senate who are keeping a very close eye on this, and we will ensure that the appropriate inquiries are made and acted upon as time progresses. I just think this inquiry is a fraction too early.