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

I want to say to everyone listening to these proceedings—we've got people in the public gallery, and it's great to see people in the public gallery again—that this is one of the worst things I've seen in my time in the Senate since I started, on 1 July 2019. What's happening here, to explain to everyone, is that some courteous relevant questions were put to the government in relation to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, referring to an article which appeared in a newspaper and asking some legitimate questions—for example, with respect to the application of a so-called efficiency dividend to the NDIS et cetera. Courteous questions were put, but the response, on notice, in writing, was a diatribe of discourtesy and sneering contempt. It was absolutely disgraceful.

Every senator who is not sitting on the government benches should be absolutely outraged by this. The Australian people should be outraged by this. Senator Ayres is coming back into the chamber. He did his best to defend the indefensible. I don't think he picked the short straw; I think he rushed forward and grabbed it with both hands. I have heard Senator Ayres in the past talk about others in this chamber, sneer at others in this chamber, saying they're engaging in Trotskyite university pranks. That is exactly what this was, Senator Ayres—sneering diatribe in response to courteous questions, relevant questions, asked about the NDIS. It was sneering, contemptuous and discourteous. It is absolutely unbelievable. I was actually shocked when I saw the answer to the question on notice—sneering, discourteous, contemptuous. It was beneath the contempt of this Senate, surely. Every single senator in this place has the right to put questions on notice. I expect, and I'm sure my colleagues here expect, that those questions will be put in a courteous manner, they'll be relevant and they'll be objective. When they do that, there is a reciprocal obligation on those sitting on the government benches to respond in a courteous fashion to those questions—because we're not just sitting here as individuals; we're sitting here as representatives of the people who elected us. That in itself is the position each and every senator holds. I may disagree with senators in terms of their political ideologies or their views on different policies, but I will always defend the right of every single senator in this place—and I don't care from which party—to put forward their views, their arguments and their perspective without being responded to with sneering, contemptuous discourtesy. And that's what we've seen from the government regarding questions on notice. I can understand that in the heat of the battle people may say things. They may step over the mark. I've done it myself. I plead guilty, your honour.