David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to amend general business notice of motion No. 744 relating to an order for the production of documents.

Leave granted.

I move the motion as amended:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) order for the production of documents (OPD) no. 647 required the Government to disclose all 'records of interaction' between the Prime Minister and the National Rugby League (NRL) and the Australian Football League (AFL) related to online gambling reform,

(ii) on 20 January 2025, the Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported that it had obtained, through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, records of meetings between the Prime Minister and the NRL and the AFL on 30 August 2024,

(iii) the AFR further reported that 'several people familiar with the meetings, which were revealed in extracts of Mr Albanese's diary obtained under freedom of information laws, said a key topic of discussion was Labor's then proposal to curb gambling ads', and

(iv) these meetings, which were disclosed under FOI, were not disclosed in the Government's response to OPD no. 647, despite them being in scope of the order, and therefore the Government has not fully complied with the order;

(b) declares that denying the Senate access to documents which may be released under FOI shows a profound lack of respect for the Senate; and

(c) requires the Minister representing the Prime Minister to attend the Senate on Thursday, 6 February 2025 at the conclusion of question time to provide an explanation, of no more than 5 minutes, of the failure to fully comply with OPD no. 647 and why documents obtained under FOI could not be obtained by the Senate, and that:

(i) any senator may move to take note of the explanation, and

(ii) any such motion may be debated for no longer than 30 minutes, shall have precedence over all business until determined, and senators may speak to the motion for not more than 5 minutes each.

Question agreed to.