Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

Three weeks ago, when Senate estimates scrutinised this process we were told that the authority was alive and well, and yet yesterday—miraculously—it was dumped in the answer to a question we received. Of course, we were not told at the COAG inquiry last week that there was an intention to dump this authority, or that there had been any indication given that the centrepiece of transparency and accountability was to be dumped. Again I ask: why was the COAG inquiry, in scrutinising the government’s measures, not told about this intention? I cannot wait to see the rest of the answers which were promised by 10 June so this Senate can deliver its report by 21 June. As at today, we still do not have the majority of answers that are required by our committee to properly scrutinise this process. We will just wait with bated breath.

I would like to come to the timing of this agreement. What now is the status of the agreement? Was it only useful for the photo opportunity that the Prime Minister needed to have? He desperately wanted to show the public in Australia that he was the only one who could achieve health reform and that he was going to end the blame game with the states—or was this really a sham process to deceive, mislead and give the deceptive and misleading impression that this was supposed, somehow, to be real reform when really it was just to show some agreement so that the Prime Minister could walk away?

There are the get out of jail clauses in this agreement, and I think that is what has happened here. This was another decision of the kitchen cabinet, and not only did the Financial Review tell us that the hospital health package was a decision of the kitchen cabinet but now we have had it confirmed in answers to questions on notice, which are a little bit different to what we were told at estimates.

I now come to this whole process. I asked a question specifically about the process that led up to this agreement, and the answer was very interesting. It lends credence to what I think has been this perception that the premiers were out there, beating their chests and saying things. But really, behind the scenes it was a different process. I came across this really interesting photograph about ‘behind the scenes’. Here is a lovely photograph of the Prime Minister. For the benefit of senators, it says, ‘The Prime Minister’s Army’—