Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

or WATT (—) (): Well, I was wondering which case we were going to be talking about, and I actually thought that not only Senator Scarr but other coalition senators might have realised that, after the way last week turned out for them, they might wish to move on to other topics. But, unfortunately, we see the coalition intent on continuing its pursuit of Ms Higgins through the parliament. Unfortunately, we see the coalition intent on pursuing matters that have been the subject of court documents leaked to the media and matters that have been the subject of text messages leaked to the media. As I say, I really would have thought that, after last week and the way that turned out for the coalition, they might have learned the error of their ways. But, obviously, they are either so rigid in their questioning or so lacking in principle that they've decided to continue it.

As we said last week, Ms Higgins's claim was managed consistent with the Commonwealth's obligations under the Legal Services Directions 2017— (Time expired)