Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

I want to place on record Labor's position. We do believe the Senate should insist on its amendments and we do support the amendment that is the subject of discussion today. Of course these companies should observe the same level of transparency as all other companies. There is, as has been made abundantly clear by the minister responsible for this debate, absolutely no public policy reason for these companies to continue to enjoy an exemption which was established in 1995 and was only ever intended to be temporary.

I'm not at all surprised that this is the government's position. This is a government that is allergic to transparency. It's a government that won't respond properly to questions in this chamber. It's a government that won't respond properly to freedom of information requests. It's a government that drags its heels on providing documents when they are ordered to be produced in this chamber.

The government are allergic to transparency for themselves and all their friends, and there is absolutely no reason why ordinary Australians should continue to tolerate the circumstances where a small group of people are exempt from a set of rules that apply to everybody else. There is no public policy reason for it, and it is incredible to me that the government continue to insist on their position when it cannot be justified and they are unwilling to even attempt a justification in this place.