Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to speak about the COVID-19 select committee public interest immunity claims. I'm making a contribution to this debate not only as a senator in this place but also as the chair of the Scrutiny of Bills Committee, where we have concerns about the way this government operates and the lack of legislation that is reliant upon regulations. As senators, we have not only the power but also the duty to scrutinise the government and to hold the executive to account. But the government's repeated misuse of public interest immunity claims in order to withhold information diminishes the select committee, and, in so doing, ultimately dismisses, diminishes and erodes the Senate's unique function of oversight and scrutiny.

As senators, we cannot allow the Senate to receive only information that is politically convenient for the government to provide. We cannot allow the government to drip-feed information based on its political agenda. This government has a reputation, under this Prime Minister, of being a government of spin, photo opportunities and lack of transparency. That's how the public is perceiving the Morrison government. If we don't stand up to this government to ensure that there is scrutiny, then we will see the public becoming more and more cynical about our democracy. We will continue to see cynical and deliberate attempts by this secretive government to delay or deny access to information that it is fully within the scope of the Senate's power to access.

We must protect the Senate's role and allow it to continue to perform one of its most important responsibilities, by endorsing the seven recommendations of this committee's report. This would give effect to a series of OPDs that would ensure that information denied to the committee—inappropriately claimed by the government to be protected by public interest immunity provisions—is provided to the Senate by no later than 12 pm on 17 March 2021. By not providing these documents, the government is denying the committee's ability to scrutinise government decisions, and this will have a significant impact on the lives of Australians.

As Senator Gallagher has already highlighted in her contribution, this committee was set up with the government fully aware of the need to have scrutiny at a time when there was the COVID-19 pandemic and the necessity for the government to act and to expend money. It was fully aware there would have to be oversight of that expenditure. That meant that it was going to be scrutinised by that committee, but, more importantly, it was going to be scrutinised by this chamber. Unfortunately, the behaviour of the government reflects a pattern of conduct by this government of smoke and mirrors and cover-ups and running a protection racket. The public are losing faith in this government to act in their best interests. The government's most recent announcement, of half-price airline tickets to conveniently located destinations in marginal seats, is just another example of how Mr Morrison—like his government—is a spin master and will only act for his own political gain.

As we were faced with unprecedented circumstances last year, the Morrison government was afforded sweeping powers and billions of dollars of taxpayer funds to properly enact policy. We have to remember this is taxpayers' money, and we know this government will have racked up trillions of dollars of debt. It is only reasonable that the actions of this government are scrutinised by the committee, with transparency and accountability being crucial to upholding our democracy. The Select Committee on COVID-19 is one of the primary mechanisms to perform this duty and evaluate the Morrison government's response to the COVID-19 crisis. However, as highlighted by the work of this committee, this government has, on numerous occasions, obstructed its work and blocked attempts to gain vital information. The inquiry was deliberately given expansive powers of inquiry, including the authority to order information from ministers. With each of the government's claims discussed in the second interim report, adequate reasoning is not provided to justify withholding the information. But this is the normal practice and behaviour that we have come to expect from those sitting opposite. If we fail to stand up for the Senate's power of inquiry, I fear that it will become compromised, and our democracy will falter.

The Australian people deserve to have transparency and accountability. I commend the hard work of Senator Gallagher and our Labor team in their pursuit of the information from ministers. There has been claim after claim of public interest immunity, more often than not without any substantive explanation of how the public will be harmed by the release of such information. As Senator Gallagher has said, some of this information has been given to state and territory leaders but not to us, Australian senators responsible for scrutinising this government.

The information includes requests to confirm the date on which the Chief Medical Officer had briefed cabinet—a key part of the government's initial response to the pandemic—which, over nine months after Dr Murphy's tentative answer, remains confidential; whether or not a US law enforcement agency could access data collected by the COVIDSafe app; the economic modelling underpinning the government's response; and a presentation by the Productivity Commission to national cabinet. The former Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, now the Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, was asked when he first briefed the cabinet about the pandemic and if he briefed them at all on the royal commission's report during the outbreak in residential aged care in Victoria. These have been important questions. Again, we are being stonewalled by this government.

I acknowledge that the government had to enact swift responses to this once-in-a-century event, but information such as this is essential to evaluate and examine so that we can better prepare ourselves for the future. JobSeeker and JobKeeper were successful in maintaining domestic consumption, but billions of dollars of taxpayers' money was spent on these schemes, and it is only appropriate that we view the data the government had which determined the level of these supplements.

We tragically lost 685 Australians in residential aged care last year. Australia was one of the worst-performing countries in the world when it came to protecting older Australians from COVID-19. We must know when Minister Colbeck briefed cabinet about the management of COVID-19 in the aged-care sector. I have to say that older Australians—most Australians, certainly those members of our community who have family and loved ones in the aged-care sector in this country—have every reason to lack confidence not only in this minister but in this government for their lack of care for elderly people, not just during the pandemic but since they've been in government, with the royal commission bringing down its interim report, titled Neglect.

There is no reason why there should be hostility from the government when we are asking questions like, 'When did Mr Colbeck brief cabinet in relation to COVID-19 and residents in aged care?' Not disclosing such information causes us to question whether any briefings occurred until 5 August 2020, by which time 130 residents had already died. This report made seven recommendations to obtain vital information from ministers in their response to the COVID-19 crisis, and, by denying access, they are denying us justice. As I said earlier, the public are losing faith in this government—for good reason, I might add.

The Australian people, via the powers of the Senate, have the right to this information. The Senate must protect that right. Therefore, I call on the senators on the crossbench to endorse the recommendations made in this report. We cannot allow the Senate to receive only information that is politically convenient for the government of the day. The claim of public interest immunity is a callous attempt to deceive the Australian people, and it is not exclusive to this committee.

As I said at the outset, I chair the Scrutiny of Bills Committee. Our committee works in a bipartisan manner because our role is to scrutinise legislation—not to debate the legislation, but to scrutinise that legislation—and we have raised our concerns at attempt after attempt by the Morrison government to delegate legislation so as to avoid parliamentary scrutiny. They are doing this by stealth and are trying to erode the functions of the Senate. The government also routinely deny access to information, rejecting freedom of information requests and giving late and ambiguous answers to questions on notice. The only reason I can see for the government continuing to do that is that they are trying to hide something.

Now we know the Prime Minister is the master of spin. We know his agenda is only ever run by the political necessity of ensuring his political survival. That's what we saw on the weekend with this $1.2 billion bonanza for the airline sector, promising half-price fares to some destinations based on Liberal marginal seats and seats that they are targeting to win. Then, of course, they had to go back to the drawing board, when they were exposed for the frauds that they are, and add some further destinations. Well, the Australian people are not blinded by the confetti of money that it suits the government to throw around the community at their own political timing.

The community expects this chamber to be able to scrutinise the actions of the government. The billions upon billions of dollars that this government has been spending during this pandemic have not necessarily been well targeted. We have highlighted those sectors that were left behind, and we know what's going to happen at the end of the month when JobKeeper is cut. I know the dramatic impact that's going to have on my Tasmanian community, which relies so much on small business, tourism and hospitality. We know the impact that that's going to have. We know that wages have stagnated in this country. We know underemployment and casualisation are hurting Australian workers.

We will always demand to have scrutiny of expenditure by this government. Therefore, these recommendations from this committee should be supported. Along with my Labor colleagues, I seek the support of the crossbench and to have them stand with us and demand scrutiny of this government, because that is so important to our democracy. At this point in time we need to assure our community that there is scrutiny, that there is transparency and, most importantly, that there is accountability. So, in this chamber and in the other place, we will hold this government to account each and every day, because that's our job and that's what the Australian people expect from us each and every day.