Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Families and Payments) Share this | Hansard source

I, too, rise to take note of the answers from Senator Scullion in response to the questions from Senators Wong, Conroy and Cameron. Senator Paterson is right when he talks about the royal commission being welcomed. This side of politics also welcomed the royal commission when it was announced by the Prime Minister, because it was shocking footage that we saw aired on the ABC's Four Cornersprogram. Anyone who viewed would not soon forget it. But what we heard here in the answers from Senator Scullion was actually more questions that need to be asked, and they have to be answered. Senator Scullion in his responses did not answer the questions that were put to him—and they were very serious questions, regardless of what Senator Paterson said in his contribution to try to paint this as some sort of partisan quest by the Labor Party. That is not the case. This is a very, very serious issue. It goes to what the minister knew about what was happening at Don Dale. It is a very, very serious issue. In the minister's answers, he first sought to blame the ABC for the reason why he could not view the episode. He then sought to blame his department for the reason why he was not fully briefed about the issues—