Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment (Senator Birmingham) to questions without notice asked by Senators O'Neill, Bilyk, Wong today relating to ministerial standards.

I have to say I don't understand why anyone in this place would waste their political capital on protecting Angus Taylor, because you know what he's busy using his ministerial position to do? To shore his investments up. Instead of getting people's power bills down, what he's doing is spending his time ensuring his investment values are retained. Average wholesale power prices have increased by 158 per cent across the National Electricity Market states since the Liberals' energy crisis began in 2015. Mr Morrison says Mr Taylor has one KPI—to be the minister for lower power prices. But you know what he is? The minister for increasing the value of his own investments.

Angus Taylor failed to declare a direct financial interest in a company, but, worse, he then used his position as a minister to defend that company's interests after it was accused of breaking the law. He met with the Department of the Environment and Energy and the office of the then minister, now Treasurer, in March 2017 to discuss the listing of critically endangered grasslands while the department was investigating the alleged poisoning of the same grasslands on land he part-owned. Magically, coincidently, that meeting occurred the day after federal environment department officials met with Jam Land Pty Ltd, the company in which he has an interest. What a coincidence! And, of course, an officer of the compliance unit of the department responsible for the investigation was present, which Minister Taylor tried to dismiss airily by saying, 'Actually, we didn't talk about it.'

Following the meeting, the office of the then minister for the environment asked for advice about whether he could vary the relevant listing against the advice of the Threatened Species Scientific Committee. He asked whether he could act against the committee's advice and whether he could keep the reasons for the variation secret. Again, what a coincidence!

Earlier today, Minister Taylor made a statement in the House which underlined his complete inability to provide any evidence that he was representing anybody other than himself. In fact, as we speak he's probably still failing to answer questions on that topic. He didn't explain why he didn't register his interests. He didn't indicate whether there were any other compliance cases. And he didn't explain what he did in relation to a letter he says he obtained three years ago. Because the facts are these: Minister Taylor says, 'Nothing to see here,' and what does he point to? A letter three years prior to the meeting that he didn't do anything about, a letter six months after the meeting and a conversation he claims to have had with a bloke from Yass. That's it. But somehow, magically, some 24 hours after his company has a meeting or is met with by the federal department of the environment regarding potential contravention of federal environmental laws, the meeting is arranged. Isn't that incredible! Nothing after 2014. Nothing after the conversation with the bloke from Yass. But the day after the meeting with Jam Land Pty Ltd occurs, magically, Minister Taylor springs into action and Mr Frydenberg's office arranges a meeting.

This is the same Angus Taylor who has benefited from the watergate scandal, where the government paid $80 million for water rights from a company that Minister Taylor had set up in the Cayman Islands—he's a good bloke, this one—asking departments to meet with him about issues affecting the value of his own investment. The fact is, nothing appears to have been done by this minister who claims to represent farmers' interests. Nothing appears to have been done to represent the asserted farmers until his own interests were implicated, until his own interests were affected. That's the truth of it.

I'd encourage any senators who are not intending or are not currently supporting an inquiry into his actions, to reflect exactly on who and what they're protecting. They're not protecting everyday Australians who are being ignored by Minister Taylor as their power bills go up. They're not protecting everyday Australians who can't pick up the phone to a cabinet colleague to get problems with their investments fixed if they run afoul of the law. If the government doesn't think there's anything to hide, why don't you allow the inquiry to demonstrate that? Why are you fighting so hard to hide it? (Time expired)