Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

[by video link] I want to take note of the government's response to the order for the production of documents No. 1217, which was tabled just then. I, with the support of the Senate, asked for the spreadsheets that underpin the car park rorts that took place prior to the last election—those spreadsheets that laid out the 20-marginal-seat strategy and how hundreds of millions of dollars of public funds could be jammed into them for car parks so that the government could 'park-barrel' their way to victory at the last election. And what response have we got to this request for these critical documents? Minister's Fletcher's response, I'm sad to say, is to deny the Senate's request for the documents and to say they needed more time to consider their response.

This is an appalling response from Minister Fletcher. It comes on top of his claim three weeks ago that these spreadsheets showing the top-20 marginal seats are cabinet documents, so they can't be revealed for two decades because it might make it more difficult for future governments to make politically challenging decisions. The government is happy to have the visibility of car parks to announce but not transparency or accountability as to how it made these decisions. If you're going to be making politically challenging decisions then that's all the more reason that you need to have transparency and accountability to be able to justify them.

Frankly, the government not having enough time—needing to consider its response—stands in stark contrast to having plenty of time and plenty of staff hours to pour into compiling these colour-coded spreadsheets. This isn't the first time that we've had colour-coded spreadsheets. It's not the first time that the Senate has been denied documents. We had the sports rorts of course, where hundreds of sporting clubs across the country were dudded because of the Liberal Party's corruption. Now we have car park rorts, where hundreds of millions of dollars was wasted for a scheme that is pointless—for car parks that are not going to solve urban congestion. But, hey, if it was to win a few votes then what does it matter that these car parks are not going to solve urban congestion? It doesn't matter as long as there's money to be funnelled or jammed into these marginal seats!

This is corruption. Who knows what program they're going to rort next? We don't, because this Liberal government is not accountable, is not transparent and is desperately trying to evade accountability. We've seen that in response to this order for the production of documents. There has been more delay, more obfuscation and more equivocating in response to a Senate order, but accountability is coming. We have a Senate inquiry underway. We will pursue these documents, just like we did with the sports rorts documents. Even if we don't manage to get them because they are hidden away, the fact that they are hidden away—the fact that it's very clear that this government has something to hide—is going to be front of mind for the community.

We are going to be seeking to uncover the whole outrageous and corrupt rorting. It's very clear that, just like sports rorts, this was coordinated out of the Prime Minister's office. It's very clear, from listening to Minister Fletcher's words three weeks ago when he claimed public interest immunity because these were cabinet documents, that the decision to spend the money in these electorates wasn't just a decision of the infrastructure minister or the urban infrastructure minister. No, it was clearly a decision that was coordinated out of the Prime Minister's office and was discussed at cabinet. That's the only reason you could say that these are cabinet documents and, therefore, are not available for the community to see.

Importantly, we have seen this corrupt practice in sports rorts, in these car park rorts and in community schemes. The public have seen far too much of the Liberal Party's corruption and incompetence. It is not just grant schemes. We've seen hundreds of millions of dollars in grants going to their mates—for example, to prop up gas mining in the Beetaloo basin, to subsidise the trashing of our climate and to undermine action on our climate crisis in the critical decade when action needs to be taken.

We've seen a complete refusal to act on climate. They're stalling on electric vehicles and not taking the actions that are needed because they don't want to be doing anything that's going to upset their vested interests, their mates and their donors. This government does not deserve the support of the Australian public. For the good of the country, for the good of the globe when it comes to climate and for transparent and accountable government we need to kick them out. I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.