Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Senate. The government will be opposing this motion. There's absolutely no credible proposition that there has been any breach of the Statement of Ministerial Standards. In fact, the inquiry conducted independently by the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Dr Parkinson, makes clear that there hasn't been any breach. I think we've got to be very, very careful with the proposition that a minister or member of parliament leaving this parliament would be prevented from taking on any job. I mean, clearly, former ministers need to be able to continue to work and be able to earn a living. I think we'd want to be very, very careful making that impossible for people leaving in these circumstances and for businesses to employ them. What does matter, of course, is that their employment doesn't breach ministerial standards. In relation to former ministers Payne and Bishop, clearly there is no breach and there's no case for this inquiry.