Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's no surprise that they'd send Senator Abetz in to talk about this issue, because he has really been the architect of the witch-hunt and pursuit of their political opponents that we've seen from those opposite now for more than four years. The reality of this situation is that it's actually the witch-hunt that they've had and the agenda that they've pursued that have unravelled with the overreach by Senator Cash and her office. I will come back to that in more detail, because I want to outlay some of the facts that we've seen that were outlaid by Senator Cameron—and I'm sure Senator Watt, behind me, will touch on them. They were two of the inquisitors that we saw in Senate estimates when Minister Cash failed to answer the questions, and failed to answer the questions in Senate question time as well. She may be here, but she certainly isn't answering the questions.

With Senator Cash, the reality is that she has no credibility, misled the Senate on five occasions, refuses to be accountable for ministerial standards, refuses to answer questions now in this chamber and is also refusing to attend another hearing of the estimates before parliament rises so that that can be further scrutinised. That's her record in this regard; that's the record of Senator Cash. It is unacceptable for the leader of government business in here to try to defend that. But there's a broader element to this, and that's the motivation of this government and the conduct of this minister.

Since coming to power more than four years ago, the government and the minister have spent millions of dollars pursuing Labor, pursuing a royal commission and targeting their political opponents with a whatever-it-takes attitude. The fact that they tipped off the media in regard to a raid on the AWU—I don't think that's the first time they've done it. This is really at the heart of what they have done. They use any opportunity, through this, to pursue their political opponents. They've done it, I'm sure, through the royal commission and, indeed, we've seen it in this chamber since I got elected last year. You'd get up and you'd see the front page of the paper: there would be a smear on a union or an individual that would be, no doubt, led by Senator Cash—they'd be there high-fiving in their office. Then the senator would come in here, take a question and smear again. That's what we've seen. This has been the tactic from those opposite. They've done it for four years. For four years they have pursued this, and it is now in tatters. The credibility of this attack is now in tatters. They pursued their political opponents through a royal commission. They did that, thinking it was going to impact on the last federal election campaign. They called a double dissolution on industrial relations issues, yet they never mentioned them again. We've seen over the last month that the credibility of Senator Cash, the lead attack dog on these issues, is in tatters. She didn't get a dixer on it this week—she's been focused on other things. That speaks volumes for how the government sees this and why it had to send in Senator Abetz to try to rebuild its attacks in this regard.

We know from the conduct of the staffer who tipped off the media is that there's no doubt that was encouraged within Senator Cash's office. They pursued a political strategy where they would tip off journos, to give them the heads-up, in trying to build a case against their political opponents, using every lever that they had to do it. I dare say they have, to quote a former Labor senator, a 'whatever it takes' attitude when it comes to pursuing their political opponents. That's what Senator Cash was responsible for. That's what her office was responsible for. What did they tell the Prime Minister? Did they fess up to him and say what they were up to when they met before question time? They let the staffer go, they threw him under a bus, but won't actually front up and give the answers that we are demanding and that the Australian public deserve to know in regard to this issue.

We'll continue to pursue Senator Cash and the others in regard to this, and we will continue to highlight the fact that the smear campaign against their political opponents that they've been pursuing now for four years is in tatters. In Senator Cash they've got a minister who has been at the forefront of this and who has no credibility. They've got a minister who is refusing to answer the questions that we are putting to her in regard to this, both in this chamber and through Senate estimates. And they've got a minister who should live up to the ministerial standards and make the decision to resign, because that is the only way the government can have credibility when it comes to workplace issues and governance in this country.