George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

I will come to the question, but I should say how nice it is to see Senator Farrell in the leader's chair. It's good to see a good old grouper in charge of the show! It could be back in the 1950s with the DLP in the front row and the two old commos behind him—but anyway! There they are, Statler and Waldorf over there!

Senator Cormann interjecting—

As Senator Cormann wisely interjects, we should not believe everything we read in the newspapers—unless, of course, it is NewsWeekly; I am sure, Senator Farrell, you and I would both believe everything we read in NewsWeekly! I actually happened to be at that meeting yesterday afternoon.

Senator Farrell interjecting—

I am about to tell you what happened. I will tell you precisely what happened. We had a very good and intelligent discussion about the Finkel report. That is what we had. My colleague and friend Josh Frydenberg, the Minister for the Environment and Energy, gave a very detailed presentation complete with a slide show explaining the conclusions and the analysis of the Finkel report, and then we had quite a long meeting in which a number of colleagues asked questions about the Finkel report and made some observations about it. And that is the way we do policy in the coalition.

First of all, we find out what the evidence is. Then we engage the relevant experts. Then we publish their findings. Then we have a discussion about the matter so that all members of the coalition party room, representing all the different parts of Australia, can have their views heard. That is precisely what we did. It was an extremely useful exercise. I even learned some things that I did not know before, and I am delighted we had such a good discussion.