Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Acting Deputy President. Indeed, if the senator had been in the chamber, he would have heard my discussion of the explanatory memorandum, and financial misconduct was seriously a part of this bill, so not only has he abused a point of order but he was wrong in fact.

The stories we have heard through the round tables have been harrowing. People around the country are hurting. The consequences of misconduct identified by the royal commission and indeed the consequences of other misconduct that Commissioner Hayne didn't have the time to consider are still being felt by families in every state and every territory, every city and every town in Australia and indeed in the rural and remote contexts that the senator proposes that this committee should attend to.

The government never wanted a royal commission. They fought tooth and nail to stop it from happening. They called it 'regrettable', and they tried to get it over and done with as quickly as possible. But Labor will not let this commission wrap up quietly and have its recommendations sitting in a filing cabinet in Treasury gathering dust, which is what I expect that the government will do with this report, as they have done with the parliamentary joint committee's inquiry into life insurance. It is just sitting there, with no response, as if it doesn't affect millions of people. Life insurance is critical. They've got the report.

Through you, Acting Deputy President, to Senator Burston: they are a government that, even when you do the work and you report, still do nothing on it, because they don't think they have to, and they're going to protect their mates at the top end of town—unlike Labor. We will roll up our sleeves. We'll continue to speak with victims, with industry, with consumer groups and with regulators, and we will consider the commission's report in detail when it's released—in what we would say is premature time—in February next year. We will make sure that the abuses and the misconduct that have been exposed through the royal commission and through victim round tables never happen again.

Of course, Labor is also deeply concerned about the impact that the drought is having on our farmers. Australian farming communities are being affected by a shocking and protracted drought, and Labor knows that governments have a role to play to assist drought-affected farming families. This is why Labor has always stood ready to support meaningful drought assistance by the government. Sadly, though, the Turnbull-Morrison government has been slow in this area, while it has been pushing a fast pace for the banking sector. This government's done nothing to develop a long-term drought strategy. Unfortunately, one of the first acts of the Abbott-Joyce government, elected in 2013, was to abolish the COAG council that dealt with these matters in a responsible matter. As a result, for five years drought reforms stalled—and our farmers, the environment and the economy are paying the price.

Labor will provide a science based approach to help farmers better adapt to what may be a new normal, and Labor will ask the council of RDCs to lead the development of an agricultural climate response plan to dramatically increase the uptake of drought mitigation, best practice and sustainable farming practice methods. Senator Burston, you've given the opportunity for a discussion of significant issues here in the chamber today, but I do continue to raise concerns about the method in which this is advanced. I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave not granted.