Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

That was an interesting if not strange contribution by Senator Eggleston to the motion to take note of answers on the Australia Network. He has challenged me to look up when I get back to my office what diplomatic amatorium actually means. I have never heard that terminology used before, but I am sure it has a meaning relevant to what he was talking about. I should put on the record very clearly, because it may offend the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Conroy, that he is actually a Collingwood supporter and not a Geelong supporter. That was only one of the very many inaccuracies of your contribution, Senator Eggleston.

I was a little bit bemused with your suggestion that, no matter how talented Senator Conroy is, his talent should extend to being able to guess what you are thinking and then, in answering a question from another senator, also answer the question that you have been thinking ought to be answered. I do accept that Senator Conroy is very talented, but to simply be able to guess what you are thinking at any particular point in time and then respond to that in question time I think is really drawing a very, very long bow.

Senator Conroy has provided a substantial amount of information to the Senate over the last couple of days, and he has answered the very questions that have been asked of him. But one of the key elements, of course, is that the AFP have been requested to investigate the nature of the leaks, which has then led to the termination of the tendering process. Again, I find it a little bit strange that the opposition is so determined to sabotage any potential investigation by the Federal Police into this matter by seeking all sorts of information about what led the government to terminate the contracts, which are the very things that the Australian Federal Police have been asked to investigate. It is standard practice in this chamber that, when there are those sorts of investigations, senators should not seek the details that will be the subject of the investigation. We are not a body that is suited to doing those sorts of investigations; the Australian Federal Police are. They ought to be allowed to get on with the job of conducting those investigations and ought not to be impeded by the Senate when doing so. I think it is a little bit passing strange that the opposition seeks to do that.

Just in case you are unaware of how important this is, the government is very concerned about what has happened, because the Australia Network is a core element of Australia's overseas broadcasting network and a major public diplomacy platform. It is important for Australia and it is important that this is done right. I am sure, Senator Eggleston, you would agree with me that whenever public moneys are being awarded, whenever government contracts are being awarded, probity has to be front and centre. Probity is absolutely crucial when the government is going through these processes. These processes have to have the confidence of the community. Clearly, this process has lost, firstly, the confidence of the government, which has terminated it, and, naturally, the confidence of the community. The government acted absolutely appropriately in terminating the tendering process once the probity could not be secured.

We know—and I am sure Senator Eggleston, who has been involved in many Senate committees where we have looked at the probity of awarding different contracts, knows—that the government has in place what some people would consider quite extraordinary levels of checking, balancing and challenging the probity of contracts and the awarding of contracts every step of the way. This is obviously no different. But of course, if information has been leaked from the tendering process that had the potential to influence the outcome of that tendering process, it is absolutely appropriate for the government to terminate that tendering process and, to reflect the serious nature of this, refer these matters to the Australian Federal Police. And that is exactly what the minister has done.