Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr President. I will confine my remarks to the conduct of the government as a whole rather than any individual to save you having to respond to total furphies from those opposite. The conduct of the Campbell Newman government is something that deserves scrutiny. In Queensland, where Sir Joe Bjelke-Petersen described press conferences as ’feeding the chooks', there is a long history of such behaviour by Queensland National Party members of parliament, and some of them went to jail. What we are seeing is the beginnings of the conduct highlighted by the terms of reference that are before us today. Those opposite are very sensitive—and they should be very sensitive!

Government senators interjecting—