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

Thank you, Senator Scarr. As I said in the answer to the previous question, Ms Higgins's claim was managed consistent with the Commonwealth's obligations under the Legal Services Directions 2017. The terms of settlement and the claim were managed in accordance with legal principle and practice and informed by external legal advice, and the parties agreed that the terms of the settlement and the settlement process, including mediation, are confidential. I would have thought that the lawyers in the opposition might have understood the meaning of 'keeping details of settlement processes confidential', but it would appear that that is unfortunately not the case, through these ongoing questions.

Now, Senator Scarr comes back at me, saying that these are matters in the public domain. I wonder how they got into the public domain. I wonder how it is that confidential court documents that were held only by a very small number of people ended up in the public domain. Who had those court documents, I wonder? Who had the opportunity to provide them to the media? I wonder who on earth that would be and I wonder who on earth would think it is sound to keep asking these questions. (Time expired)