George Campbell (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

He did not get an answer that you wanted, but he got a reasoned, considered response, Senator Parry. The answer was that the matter is currently before the Australian Electoral Commission. The very fact that the TWU has put in an amended return means that the matter is currently before the commission. Senator Ronaldson is screaming for a judicial inquiry into a matter in which there has been no finding of anything illegal. No-one has yet found that the TWU has done anything that contravenes the Electoral Act. There is an allegation, but there is certainly no finding.

But did we hear Senator Ronaldson get on his feet, screaming for a judicial inquiry when Greenfields was operating in the Liberal Party—when the Liberal Party got $4.6 million out of Greenfields, which was contrary to the spirit of the Electoral Act? Of course not; nor did anybody else on the other side get up and scream about a judicial inquiry into Greenfields. That was a rort set up specifically to disguise where electoral funding to the Liberal Party was coming from. Of course they would not get on their feet and scream for a judicial inquiry into those circumstances.

As I understand it, some advice we have is that in fact the former Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations announced that the former government would refer these so-called allegations about the TWU to a range of specialist bodies for investigation. As I understand it, the matters were referred to the Australian Electoral Commission, the Australian Taxation Office, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and the New South Wales government. I also understand that the Workplace Authority, an Australian industrial registry, also undertook inquiries into these matters. Referring matters to specialised areas of government at both a state and federal level ensures the body with the appropriate legislative responsibilities and investigative powers can undertake a thorough examination of the issues. Obviously what Senator Evans was saying is that the appropriate course to follow here is to allow those investigations, if they are on foot, or any further investigations that come out of the amended return that has been put in, to take place and to proceed with those appropriate bodies.

But that is not what those on the other side want. They do not want a proper investigation of these matters. They do not want to establish whether or not there has been a breach of the Electoral Act. They want a political point that they can get up and pointscore off. They think they have something that will generate some sympathy out there in the community. That is why we have seen again today the spectacle of Senator Ronaldson on his feet, screaming and yelling for another five minutes and making no relevant point of substance in the debate—that is because he does not have one. He has what he thinks is a political hot potato and, as my colleague Senator Hutchins said, he got all hot and bothered. Maybe the potato was burning his fingers; I do not know.