Susan McDonald (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of this matter. I'm incredibly proud to be part of a party that has sent four female senators out of five senators to the ministry. I'm proud of that because we have been preselected and elected on the basis of being the best people for the job, not on any other attributes. So when we talk about safety and workplace condition standards, I quite agree that they should be applied to all in the workplace and that they are not applicable just to women or just to men; they are applicable to all people who work in all workplaces. We are all responsible in a way, whether it be as men who hold positions of responsibility or, indeed, as women who hold positions of responsibility. Building a culture that enables us to all enjoy where we are and enables us to contribute in a fulsome way is important.

I think the Prime Minister has been very clear on this matter. He has a very strong ministerial staff code of conduct, and he holds both his ministers and all staff in this place to that high standard. The Prime Minister said:

It is important that everyone should feel safe in their workplace. That everyone should have proper channels through which they can deal with any issue about which they are uncomfortable. I think that is incredibly important. I think the change in ministerial standards introduced by my predecessor were important.

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What is important is there are standards and the standards are adhered to and under my administration, under my government, I take that code very seriously and my ministers are in no doubt about what my expectations are of them, absolutely no doubt, about my expectations, and I expect them to be lived up to.

The issue that we are talking about is setting standards, setting a code of conduct and moving forward in that spirit. To have matters raised and discussed in this place and have it act like a kangaroo court is a very dangerous place to be and one that I'm sure no man or woman would like to see—that is, our reputations and actions being examined without due process and consideration.

I was pleased to see comments from Senator Boswell around the Australian flag and the introduction of that into this Senate. It is incredibly important that we unite in our agreement of what it is that unifies us, what brings us together. The Australian flag as the official flag of this country is an important element of that. Others, which were referred to by Senator McCarthy, are symbols—whether it be the symbol of the poppy that we wear today for Remembrance Day or symbols of other flags. Whether they be the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flag or state flags, they are all important flags, but it is the Australian flag, the official flag, that flies over this parliament and in the House of Representatives and this Senate chamber. It is important to find those things that unify us, those things that we can unite underneath, particularly at this time when people are searching for safety and security, for some sense of certainty in the world, when we are faced with a pandemic that is both a health crisis and an economic crisis.

It is with much pride that I reflect on Senator Boswell's comments. He is, again, somebody from the National Party who has provided much leadership and thought around issues that are important to regional and rural Australia. He has not been well of late, and I'm very pleased to see that he is making a terrific recovery. He has provided many years of incredible service and distinction to the party, to the Senate and to the country.