John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

No wonder the Liberal senators laugh. That committee politicised government advertising campaigns. Now there are no staff, no ministers and no backbenchers, no-one involved in partisan politics, involved at all in our advertising guidelines and advertising processes. What the opposition should do is say, ‘Job well done on this,’ to the Rudd government. It is a way of doing business very different to what we saw under the Howard government.

Modesty prevents me speaking about our reforms in the freedom of information area and in relation to electoral reforms. I will respond to the issue that Senator Ronaldson raised about coordination comments, when he showed his absolute lack of understanding of how government in this country works. These are departmental coordination comments, Senator Ronaldson—through you, Mr Deputy President. They are not prime ministerial coordination comments; they are departmental coordination comments. Any decision for them not to proceed is a departmental decision. It happened in one department—that is true; we know that—the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Those processes have been restored stronger, tougher and with a great deal more rigour than they had previously, and most senators would and should acknowledge that this is the case.

In conclusion, and I do not want take up a lot of the chamber’s time, I note that, as the only political party in this country that is older than the nation itself, the Australian Labor Party has had a great tradition of support and respect for the institutions, the conventions and the values that underpin Australian democracy. Unlike the previous government, we are not in the business of rorting the advantages of incumbency. We have made good strides in this area. Of course there is more to be done, but a ministerial statement has been tabled today that I ask people to judge objectively. I ask them to look at what has been achieved over the past year. I ask them to compare that with what occurred during the 11½ bleak years of the Howard government. We will continue to make strides in this area. We care about transparency; we have acted upon it. We care about accountability; we have acted upon it. We care about integrity; we have acted upon it. We intend to do more.

Question agreed to.