Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

If the chamber agrees to our amendment, we will be supporting this motion from Senator Bragg, because we do support open access to information so the Senate can properly do its job in scrutinising legislation before it. But I do want to make it clear that, if the amendment is accepted, the motion would be directed squarely at the Minister representing the Treasurer and not at the Parliamentary Budget Office. We do think the PBO has acted appropriately in not providing the information to Senator Bragg and that the information has to come from the Minister representing the Treasurer and be provided to the Senate. The free flow of protected and sensitive information between government agencies and the PBO is critical in the PBO being able to do the job they do so well in serving MPs. We would not support a motion if we knew it would result in a chilling effect on the flow of information between government agencies and the PBO.