James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

Deputy President McLachlan, if you don't mind, I will read out the relevant clause from this new ministerial code of conduct that has been in for several months. It says at 5.1:

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.

It is somewhat shameful that we have a Prime Minister in this country who goes around lecturing us not only all about integrity and about transparency but also about good manners. This Prime Minister is big about how we have to have good manners in public life, and we need good manners when it comes to trying to change things. But when it comes to answering questions, the Prime Minister doesn't have any good manners. The good manners have got into a large white car, gone to the airport and flown overseas with him.

This is the problem: we have a prime minister who is not engaged in the day-to-day running of this country. We have a Prime Minister who does not want to answer questions. Forty per cent of the questions that have not been answered in this chamber were to the Prime Minister. That is 40 per cent. This is a Prime Minister who spent the last three years going around the country like some sort of demented robot, talking about transparency and accountability and how he is purer than pure. He grew up in public housing; isn't life terrible. He said, 'I am going to be honest and transparent' but he gets into power and gets in the big white limo and he gets in that leather spin-around chair and he goes, 'Well—