Perin Davey (NSW, National Party, Shadow Minister for Water) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to talk about the issue of transparency and this government's absolute contempt for this chamber. Last Friday afternoon, one day after the Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Bill passed the Senate, as a courtesy I received documents from the minister's office, under an order for the production of documents, that have not yet been tabled. But it is worth reminding people of the time line of this production.

The first motion for the order for the production of documents was moved on 6 September, with a request for the documents by 14 September 2023 in relation to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and the defunding of the Northern Basin Aboriginal Nations. On 14 September we were told that, due to there being over '1.8 million documents since May 2022', the government would not comply until 1 December. On 16 October the Senate again supported a motion requiring the minister to comply by 17 October. But again the government ignored that request from the Senate, and another motion was passed on 19 October requiring the minister to provide an explanation.

In Minister Gallagher's statement of the chamber, she claimed that there were more than 1.8 million documents and, to comply, it would take 8½ years for one person working in the department to review each document. Well, the actual documents provided were just 37 in number and covered just three of the 10 areas requested. When will this government treat this chamber with respect?