Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

The Senate take note of answer given by the Minister for Indigenous Affairs.

We have just had a minister who without providing the usual courtesies, unless he rang my office and I was not advised, has come into the chamber to talk about another breach of ministerial standards under this government. He was asked questions on Tuesday and he said he would take them on notice. All of a sudden today, at the end of the sitting period, he comes in to deliver a pre-prepared statement to try to explain another breach of the Prime Minister's standards that are expected both of staff and ministers. I look forward to exploring this in more detail because I think the Australian people are entitled to know why not one but two ministers in this chamber happen to have staff who have interests in the portfolios which they administer and refuse to comply with and refuse to apply the standards that the Prime Minister has provided for ministers and for their staff. I remind the minister, and perhaps he would like to prepare himself for questions on this, that the statement of standards for ministerial staff that the Prime Minister has issued says:

The staff should have no involvement in outside employment or in the daily work of any business or retain a directorship of a company without the written agreement of their minister and Special Minister of State.

This chamber and the Australian people are entitled to know whether that was adhered to. Was there written agreement from Senator Ronaldson or not? When did you know about these interests? These questions have not been answered properly by this minister and what we have again is a government who treats with arrant disregard their own standards of behaviour as set out by the Prime Minister.

Question agreed to.