Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I also seek to speak on this motion to take note of the minister's explanation. I indicate that this is now the third time that the Senate has requested the government to release the Ruddock report into religious freedoms. Although Senator Cormann is claiming public interest immunity under the Westminster system to prevent the release of this document, there is an equally important Westminster tradition, and that's the right of the Senate to make these decisions to request this information. This is now the third time that the Senate has done it and it's the third time that the government has refused to release the document.

It beggars belief that the government could claim that there is public interest in keeping this issue under wraps when of course we have read in The Australian and The Sydney Morning Herald the recommendations of this report. Somebody in the government wants this document out there, because somebody in the government has released this document to journalists with those two newspapers. If it's good enough for whoever has had access to this document to release it to the newspapers, why is it not good enough for the government to release it to the Senate and then release it to the Australian people? Why is the government seeking to hide behind public interest immunity when the reality is the document has already partly been released?

There is a debate raging in the parliament and in the community about the contents of this document, and yet we don't see it. One reason I guess we might not be given this document is the fact that in three days time there is going to be a by-election in the seat of Wentworth. Malcolm Turnbull was unceremoniously removed from the position of Prime Minister. He has been replaced by Scott Morrison. Scott Morrison is wanting to hold onto his slim majority in the lower house. The government are afraid that, if they release this document and the community gets to see the contents of this document and have a debate about the issue of religious freedoms, that will result in their candidate, Mr Sharma—in fact, he wasn't Mr Morrison's candidate; Mr Morrison wanted another candidate—losing the seat of Wentworth and, as a result of that, the government losing their majority in the lower house. That is not a basis for withholding this document. That can't be a public interest immunity case. That's the political interest of Mr Morrison. The government should not be hiding behind claims of public interest immunity when the reality is that the reason this document has not been released is the political interests of Mr Morrison.

When Mr Morrison became Prime Minister he promised all sorts of changes to the way in which the government is run, but he has fallen at the first test. He was one of those people who wanted this debate on religious freedom. He has got his report and he is now refusing to release it to the Australian people. There are some inconsistencies in just what's happening with this document in the government. We saw yesterday the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Frydenberg, say, 'The report hasn't even been considered by cabinet.' I'll refer to the last time the Senate requested this document to be released on 20 September. Senator Cormann told the Senate:

I hasten to add here, in relation to the report of the Religious Freedom Review Expert Panel, which has been received by the cabinet, that the government has not as yet made any decisions on the way forward. The cabinet continues with its deliberations.

Who's right? Is Mr Frydenberg right when he says, 'The report hasn't even been considered by cabinet,' or is Senator Cormann right when he says, 'The cabinet continues with its deliberations.' The reality is that this is a dysfunctional government. In a serious motion dealing with the issue of anti-racism, we saw yesterday that the Attorney-General wasn't able to make a decision on the response of the government to that motion. Minister Cormann wasn't able to make a response to that motion. We found that a junior staffer in a minister's office is now making decisions on behalf of the government. What sort of dysfunctional government are we dealing with here? I know you're shaking your head, Senator Birmingham; I'd shake my head too. Junior staffers are making decisions about government policy for this government. Is it because Prime Minister Morrison doesn't trust his own ministers? Doesn't he trust Minister Porter? Doesn't he trust Minister Cormann? He's now delegating the role to junior staffers to make the decisions.

We've got an important issue here of religious freedom. The community wants a debate. The parliament wants a debate. The Labor Party wants a serious debate on this issue. We've been waiting now for this report for 11 months. Eleven months ago was when the government announced they were going to start this review. They've had the review for five months and, even after that period of time, we still don't have access to this document. The government changed Prime Ministers to have a fresh start, but it simply hasn't happened. We haven't had a new beginning. This is the old government. This is not a new government with new policies. It's continuing to deny the Australian people the opportunity to have a say about this.