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

Australia has one of the proudest and best records in the world when it comes to providing open, transparent and accountable government. I can see Senator McKim sneer at that but that is a fact. Of course, we are committed to pursue further reforms in this regard to even further strengthen an already strong position. I think the Australian people well understand why over the last six months we have prioritised our crisis response to protect people's lives, to suppress the spread of the virus, to slow down the spread of the virus to ensure that our hospitals could handle the inflow of patients into the health system, to ensure that we provided the necessary supports to Australian businesses, Australian workers and those Australians who lost their jobs. I think Australians understand that there has been a pandemic going on, and that clearly it was quite appropriate that, in this context, we prioritised the many measures that had to be taken as part of a crisis response. I thank the Senate. I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.