Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Special Minister of State) Share this | Hansard source

That is right: as my colleague reminds me, it was on Fuelwatch. Under the guise of a cabinet leak on Fuelwatch by a minister who was appalled at the policy—which has now been pulled, and quite rightly—an institution that has served governments of all political persuasions over decades was pulled. If that is an example of the openness, transparency and accountability referred to in the minister’s document, heaven help us.

There are a number of other examples. I am mindful of the time. I will not go into those except to mention once more this notion of campaign finance reform. I am pleased that both of the bills that are relevant in the portfolio of the minister and I have now gone over until next year; but, if you, Minister, were serious about openness and transparency, these matters would never even have got into this chamber until the release of your green papers and the opportunity for the joint standing committee and this chamber to take a holistic view of the issue. It was party partisan. It was a political move. The government stands condemned for that. I will finish on this note: this ministerial statement does contain some measures the minister has implemented which I think are for the benefit of all, and I congratulate him on that. But, Minister, you cannot table a self-serving document which sums up your year’s activities without any acknowledgement at all that the standards that you set for your ministerial colleagues simply have not been met.