Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The government members here are now disowning their National colleagues across the ocean, the conservatives in New Zealand. They can do that, but I am prosecuting a case of parallelism between the Exclusive Brethren’s approach to politics in that country and what we have a right to believe may be the case here when we have ministers failing to answer questions which asked them very simply: have you met with the Exclusive Brethren; if so, who; if so, when; and, if so, what matters were discussed? Every minister in this place knows the rules. When a question like that is put on notice, there are 30 days in which to answer. Every minister knows that my office has approached the government to ask why this question has not been answered. I can only assume that there is some form of collectivism going on over there—a defensive collectivism which involves not answering these questions.

The fact is that this Senate has the right to get that answer. We are going away now for a break until February—