Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Minister, again I have a number of questions coming out of the joint select committee which I served on. I appreciate you weren't there during the course of the hearing. The issue arose during the course of the hearing as to whether or not someone who's subject to a notice to produce or to testify at private hearings could tell their spouse, and we heard testimony during the course of the hearing about the psychological pressure that people are under in the context of a corruption inquiry. Why should someone not be permitted to tell their spouse, their closest psychological support, in circumstances where the spouse themselves is not the subject of a corruption investigation? Why is it that this bill doesn't provide that someone who's the subject of a corruption investigation can tell their spouse where their spouse is themselves not the subject of a corruption investigation? Doesn't that just reflect the reality of social relationships and the need for people to have the love and support of their closest person in this world?