Steph Hodgins-May (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I'm under the belief that my office has informed your office and also the relevant ministers for those questions on notice, but, with your response, I move:

That the Senate take note of the minister's response.

This Senate estimates, the 2024-25 budget estimates, were my first experience of estimates as a senator. I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to get to the bottom of some of the really integral questions raised by stakeholders across a range of issues: cheaper child care, fee increases, community childcare fund, preschool reform agreements, childcare fees, inclusion support programs, childcare refugee and asylum seeker issues, issues really important in my local community of Macnamara around the closure of a post office without adequate information being provided, Indooroopilly roundabout project funding discrepancies—a huge range of issues that stakeholders and the public are expecting answers to and thought that they would have received by now.

We heard about the existence of a cheat sheet for Senate estimates, and frankly that was appalling, but I'm also really disheartened to know that we're having to chase up this information that was committed to being provided to us by the relevant departments that I've outlined today. I look forward to seeing the information being provided by the relevant portfolio holders and ministerial departments. This information is really important, and we need to have adequate lead time leading into the next round of estimates to be able to interrogate this information further and provide what I think is information that is in the public interest that we have a right to expect in a timely fashion.

Question agreed to.