Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Small and Family Business, Skills and Vocational Education (Senator Cash) and the Minister for Finance and the Public Service (Senator Cormann) to questions without notice asked by Senator Cameron and the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (Senator Wong) today relating to the execution of a search warrant on Australian Workers' Union premises and to the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.

What we do know about this government is that they are all about fear and smear. That's the modus operandi of this government. They ignore the national interest. They ignore the need to protect consumers against the banks. They ignore the plight of Australian families battling to put food on the table. They ignore declining living standards and wage stagnation. They ignore the need for proper funding in the public health system and in the public education system. All they do is sit around and try and smear the Leader of the Opposition. That's their modus operandi. And then they back that up with a fear campaign on refugees.

I don't normally quote TheBetoota Advocate, but its headline reads:

Opportunistic Refugee Inspired By Medivac Bill To Get Lost At Sea, Spend 5 Years In Nauru, Develop Excruciating Illness And Then Maybe Briefly Come To Australia For Medical Treatment Under Armed Guard

That really says it all. This is a nonsense from this government. They just try and use fear campaigns to divide the community and shore up their rabble of a government and their declining capacity to get things through this Senate and through the House of Representatives.

Minister Cash, a cabinet minister, has been anything but forthright in this parliament. She misled parliament on five occasions. She skulked and hid behind a whiteboard to try and avoid being pulled up on what she was doing. She has hidden behind public interest immunity to not answer questions on her involvement in the leaking of information to the press that the AFP said could have put their people's lives in danger. This is a disgraced minister, a disgraceful government and a government that is full of machinations and full of fear campaigns but don't look after the best interests of people in this country. This is a minister who should really start considering her position. She should just resign. And if she won't resign, then Mr Morrison should sack her. Here we have, day after day now, evidence coming out in court, under oath, that contradicts what Minister Cash has been telling this parliament. We now know that Minister Keenan's office was involved. Isn't it funny that we've got the Leader of the Senate, Western Australian; Minister Cash, Western Australian and Mr Keenan, Western Australian, all in there defending each other on what is basically a smear campaign on the Leader of the Opposition and a fear campaign to try and shore up their failing government.

Senator Wong simply asked had Mr Morrison sought reassurance on the statements by Senator Cash and Mr Keenan? We couldn't get an answer on that either. Wouldn't you think that even though he may only be a temporary Prime Minister, he should at least be seeking some reassurance about what's been happening in the courts against what these ministers have said in this place and have said publicly? There is absolutely no doubt that this minister, Minister Cash's office, engaged in what is basically criminal activity. This is a minister who presided over the ABCC when the commissioner of the ABCC had to resign in ignominy. It's about time Senator Cash resigned in ignominy as well. (Time expired)