Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

But there's nothing in the legislation—which is where we as the parliament have the ability to say this is appropriate or not—that would constrain what could be in those classes of loans. So we could have a class of loan, for example, where suddenly there is money available to the wine industry in South Australia just before a South Australian election, or suddenly there is a class of loans available to the dairy industry in northern Tasmania just before a Tasmanian election or a federal election, or suddenly, just before a New South Wales election, there is a class of loans for plantation forestry in northern New South Wales, and there would be no parliamentary oversight over these types of loans. It is up to the operating mandate, which is not a disallowable instrument. It's up to the ministers to decide in their judgement, and just the ministers, not even going to the cabinet. It's going to be up them, with executive power to decide that there's suddenly government largesse that would be available to a particular industry in a particular state. This is why we have grave concerns about this legislation. It is setting up a slush fund to be able to be used by the government of the day.