Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the chamber. I would also like to acknowledge Senator Xenophon for bringing these terms of reference forward, and for the collaborative way in which the opposition has sought to make sure that one inquiry, rather than two, is set afoot. Also acknowledging Senator McGrath's comments, I think it will be extremely valuable to the Senate inquiry to have the report, as you indicated, that Mr MacGibbon and his colleagues will be putting together into the technical aspects of what happened on Census night. As you will have seen, if you have seen the terms of reference that have been circulated in Senator Xenophon's, Senator Lambie's and my name, the inquiry that has been referred to the economics committee goes significantly further into the lead-up to the Census and into the steps that were put in place that created such scepticism in the run-up that it may, in fact, contaminate the dataset.

Personally, I am interested to know whether the Census is going to be re-run—it is that far-reaching. It is not simply a question of what happened on Census night to blow the process up, but of what happened in the lead-up to take such confidence away from what should have been a completely uncontroversial continuation of the Census process. (Time expired)