Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Earlier today I supported the amendments moved by the coalition in relation to accountability, transparency, scrutiny of how these taxpayers’ funds would be spent. I also supported very strongly the amendment that dealt with the Communications Fund. That fund will not be hived off and merged into the Building Australia Fund, dissipating the promises that were made for people of regional Australia. When you look at the history of this, when you look at what Senator Joyce achieved for the people of rural and regional Australia during the privatisation process of Telstra, you see he did the right thing in ensuring that there would be a $2 billion fund in perpetuity. That is what the Communications Fund was about. That was the covenant; that was a trust with the people of the bush to make sure that that money was there in perpetuity. The government’s assurances do not comfort me. The opposition did the right thing by moving those amendments.

I have a lot of regard for Senator Minchin but I cannot understand the logic of what the coalition has done, what the Liberal Party has done by saying, ‘All these measures of transparency and accountability—we’re not going to go ahead with them, we’re not going to insist on those amendments, for the simple reason that Labor’s spin machine will say we are holding it up.’ Let the government justify that having a greater degree of scrutiny and accountability with this fund is doing the wrong thing and is somehow undermining this fund. In fact, it enhances it. I do not get this. I do not get how something as fundamental and as basic as this could simply be abandoned.

Ten years ago, Hugh Mackay the social commentator wrote something that I have kept close to me. It was an article about the culture of broken promises and its cost—the acidic, corrosive effect it has on our faith in politicians and in our institutions of democracy. Mackay said that with trust in the political process being eroded with every bent principle, every broken promise and every policy backflip, the level of cynicism has reached breaking point for many Australians. He went on to say that once trust has gone we lose interest in the question of whether or not the truth is being told. We assume it is not most of the time, but we no longer find ourselves outraged. We lower our expectations and invite the politicians to live down to them. That downward spiral of expectation traps both of us. I am not going to be part of that downward spiral. I believe these amendments ought to be adhered to, that we ought to support them, and that is what I will be doing tonight.