Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

As a servant to the many different people who make up our one Queensland community, in my criticism of this and previous governments I often use the word 'accountability'. Here's why. When I was young, my local member was my electorate's representative in Canberra. Now my local member is Canberra's representative in my electorate. Parliamentarians don't work now for the people; the people work for parliament. In Canberra, decisions are taken in the best interests of the predatory billionaires who are behind every curtain and pulling every string.

This fundamental change in the nature of parliament was brought home in the most recent Senate estimates. When asking questions on behalf of my constituents, the default position of those opposite was not to answer the question. Public Service speak has devolved into word soup, with no meaning, no accountability and often no truth. I have never seen more obsequious answers from public servants in my life. I've never seen ministers more interested in preventing truth from coming out instead of providing truthful oversight, and I have never seen committee chairs dedicating their sessions to supressing truth.

Senate estimates is a parody of governance—a parody which sounds something like this: 'Senator: "Minister, the witness is stalling. Please instruct the witness to answer the question." Minister: "Why would I do that?" Senator: "Because it's your job to be transparent and truthful to the public." Minister: "No, Senator, it's my job to cover up the mistakes of the last government so they will in turn cover up mine." Committee chair: "Senator, your time is up."' What a farce! What a disgusting display I saw two weeks ago. Shameful. Everyday Australians are facing a huge challenge from insane immigration population growth, cost-of-living pressures and unaffordable mortgages, and this government thinks the answer is to cover up, deflect and lie. Have you forgotten that in the end truth always comes out?