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

I too rise to make a contribution to this debate on the report by the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters. I am indebted to the clerks for providing me with a copy of the report, because there do not seem to be too many available. I am not surprised, because this Labor-Green report is really not worth the paper it is written on.

I come at this from a different angle from Senator Ryan, who spoke about the AEC in particular. We know that a donor who has made gifts to candidates and political parties in relation to an election within a disclosure period—in the case of Mr Craig Thomson that was between 13 April 2007, the date he became endorsed as a candidate, and 24 November 2007, the election day—is required to file a donor annual return setting out the amounts or values of those gifts. The monetary threshold for that disclosure was $10,300 in 2006-07 and $10,500 in 2007-08. The dissenting report by coalition members of the committee sets out our concerns in relation to that.

How can this report be taken seriously, considering the lack of material that was made available to the Australian Electoral Commission in relation to its investigation?

It is very clear here that it did not see a very pertinent report, which is the BDO Kendall report, which was the first report that was done when the HSU national secretary first became aware of these inconsistencies. Certain reports were undertaken and there was a referral by Slater and Gordon to BDO Kendall, who, forensically, based on the documents that they had available, prepared their report.

I find it appalling that the AEC did not have access to all the documents that were available to Fair Work Australia. It meant that they were only able to undertake a paper analysis of this whole situation. We have material that is in the public arena but we also have material that potentially could come to light if this government stopped hiding the annexures to the Fair Work Australia report. As I have said to the Senate, the Fair Work Australia report has seven lever arch folders of attachments to that report, which are integral to that report, but which the Australian Labor Party refuse to release. Senator Marshall has stood up in this place and given us some pithy reason as to why they should not be. Reports that are released to the Senate or to Senate committees have attachments to them. In this case, there are seven lever arch folders of documents. So why should they not be released? They are an integral part of the Fair Work Australia report, therefore they should be released.

But I have been trying since May this year to have those documents released. After I first sought access to the documents I was only able to attend at the office of the committee to read these reports. This is an appalling way of doing business in this place, but it is very clear that those documents will never see the light of day. It is little wonder that they were not shown to the Australian Electoral Commission. Those documents will never see the light of day because they tell an absolutely appalling story of the conduct of the HSU and of Mr Thomson in his activities.

It is very clear that if those documents were released and if somebody forensically went through them they could find information that is currently not available in the public arena. They could also disclose, after proper scrutiny, whether there were other matters which required further investigation of Mr Thomson's activities that have not been investigated to date. After the release of the Fair Work Australia report, we saw another chit or further expenses come to light, which demonstrated that Mr Nassios in the Fair Work Australia investigation which was undertaken had not picked up. It is possible that a forensic assessment of these documents could disclose further evidence of mismanagement, further evidence of Mr Thomson's activities or, indeed, further evidence of the activities of other persons.

As I have said, having had the benefit of reading all documents in all seven lever arch folders, to me, it is not surprising why the Australian Labor Party will do everything humanly possible to ensure that those documents never, ever get released, because those opposite have something to hide. That is why those documents were not released and why those documents have not been provided to those persons and those bodies which have been investigating anything to do with the HSU matter.

What does that tell you about those opposite and their Green alliance partners? Yes, you come in here daily, complaining about access. When the Greens have not been provided with documents they come running in here, complaining about freedom of information and access to documents and all sorts of things. But when push comes to shove you will always do what you did last time and that is vote with the government to preclude important information being disclosed to the Senate to allow the senators and this parliament to properly do their work. So it does not surprise me that this report is not worth the paper that it is written on. There have been cash withdrawals and thousands and thousands of dollars have not been disclosed.

In estimates hearings I asked the Australian Electoral Commission questions about the activities of Mr Thomson, Ms Criselee Stevens—his partner in crime when they set up Coastal Voice—and Matt Burke, who subsequently was put onto Senator Hutchins' staff. These people were paid out of HSU funds. Interestingly, I was able to find out a whole lot of information in relation to Coastal Voice but, lo and behold, the Australian Electoral Commission was not able to find out the information. And, of course, oh deary me, the time passed and therefore the Australian Electoral Commission could not undertake the relevant prosecutions that would have been and ought to have been properly undertaken into the failure by those opposite and, in particular, by Mr Thomson to disclose relevant expenditure that was directly related to his election as the member for Dobell. Thousands and thousands of dollars were never, ever disclosed and, in the end, the time passed and Mr Thomson walks off and then has the audacity to say that he has been vindicated.

Well, excuse me! It is obvious that the Australian Electoral Commission certainly did not do its job properly in the first place and, in this instance, should have been provided with all the documents.