Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party, Leader of The Nationals in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Just one thing, because I am fascinated—there are issues of transparency, and you have really inspired me tonight. We are apparently going to get the answer tomorrow to a question that we asked on notice. We are talking about transparency, they are asking about transparency and they say ‘you’ve got it’, but we gave that question on notice to you, Minister Sherry, at the end of May. You have had six months to explain the $72 billion in ‘other’. You were supposed to reply to that question by the end of July. You never did. It is now November. It is six months after we asked the question and four months after you were supposed to reply, and you never did. You wonder why in this place we would ask a question about transparency and letting the sunlight in, so let us be honest: when you do not want to answer a question, you just do not—you hold the whole place in contempt. It is all very well for you to come in here and say, ‘I’ll answer you tomorrow’, but the point is that for the last four months we have been waiting on your reply, and we have not had one. I do not know whether that is because you do not know the answer or because you do know the answer and just do not want to tell us.

Question put:

That the amendments (Senator Cormann’s) be agreed to.