Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Madam Deputy President. It certainly is a debating point, and Senator Cameron is denying he was a mate of Eddie Obeid's and the bad Ian Macdonald, the Labor Party minister from New South Wales. Is Senator Cameron denying that? What a gutless, despicable speech from Senator Cameron. He's a bit like former Senator Conroy, attacking public servants who have no way of responding. And Senator Cameron is typical of the Labor Party. Public servants aren't in this chamber and they cannot get up and defend themselves as I can. Senator Cameron won't stay to hear my responses to his despicable attacks.

Public servants are there to do a job. They are not part of the political process. Senator Cameron, Senator Conroy before him, and most Labor politicians and senators at estimates will attack public servants personally, knowing that they cannot respond to these vicious, personal and deliberate attacks by members of the Australian Labor Party. They are disgusting in the way they do that. I remember how Senator Conroy made an accusation to General Campbell, who everybody knew was an honest, reliable, first-class soldier, currently Chief of the Defence Force but in those days doing the job that his government had given him to do. He was subject to the sort of despicable comment you've just heard from Senator Cameron on public servants.

He speaks about a number of other public servants who are simply not in a position to defend themselves, although one of those he named—I can't be more specific than this—has sought to respond in the rules of the Senate to some of the despicable, personal and untrue allegations that were made by members of the Australian Labor Party.

And for Senator Cameron to talk about others making political appointments to the Public Service is just laughable. We have no better example than one who has just walked into the room—my good friend Senator Watt—who was a failed Labor member of parliament in the Queensland parliament and appointed then into the Queensland Public Service. I mean, if Senator Cameron wants to talk about examples like this, he only has to look over his shoulder and see that the Labor Party is full of this.

I've been in this chamber for a long time and, regrettably, I've lived through 12 years of Labor governments. They continually politicise the Public Service. Not often were they ever criticised by our side of parliament, because these political appointees, having been appointed, are public servants, and it's not our wont to actually politicise them. But the Labor Party know no bounds. I don't know all the other public servants that were mentioned by Senator Cameron, but I know Mr Hadgkiss did a wonderful job as an Australian bringing law and order to a very disorderly part of our economy—disorder that was promoted by the union movement, who put Senator Cameron in this chamber here. Mr Hadgkiss did a wonderful job in bringing law and order to an industry that had been unlawful.

I think Senator Cameron mentioned Mr Mark Bielecki. I believe he is from the commission that is looking into union rorts! More union rorts, and more Labor Party rorts—