Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

Exactly! But Senator Scarr, as you would know, many of these stakeholders donated millions and millions and millions of dollars to the Australian Labor Party. Money comes in by way of donations, policy goes out.

An opposition senator interjecting—

Exactly. There's one accord in town, and that's the accord between the Albanese Labor government and the union movement of Australia. And then when we deign to ask very simple questions—just what, where, when, why and how—we are treated with complete contempt. And in treating the opposition with contempt, the Albanese government is treating the Australian people with contempt because the Australian people deserve to know the answers to these questions.

Of course, we know the contempt with which the now Prime Minister treats his code of conduct. He says in a big press conference there's a new code of conduct and all his ministers will abide by it. Yet what do we see within the first few months of the parliament? We see minister after minister in potential breach of the code. As I said, what the code says is:

Ministers are required to provide an honest and comprehensive account of their exercise of public office, and of the activities of the agencies within their portfolios, in response to any reasonable and bona fide enquiry by a member of the Parliament or a Parliamentary Committee.

And what do we have? Minister after minister after minister ignoring this code. What does the Prime Minister of Australia say—the Prime Minister of Australia who went to the election on the basis of transparency, integrity, accountability and honesty? Well, let's be honest: he really doesn't seem too interested in whether his ministers are actually abiding by it or not.

In relation to one of the first ministers to have a conflict: Minister Kristy McBain decided the best way to divest herself of a number of her shares was to give them to her husband, which was unfortunate because, if you read the ministerial code of conduct, it actually says that is a breach of the ministerial code of conduct.