Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Housing and Urban Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 14 August I asked Minister Vanstone, pursuant to standing order 74(5), if she could give an explanation as to why answers had not been provided to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee to a number of questions on notice asked on 22 May 2006. Three weeks later I ask again and remind the minister. I ask her why, as at 2 pm today, 35 questions remain outstanding?

Amanda Vanstone (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A total of 290, including 455 subparts, were taken on notice. As at 1 September, my department had forwarded 232 answers to the committee. The others will come soon. Of these, 91 questions, including 152 subparts, related to the subclass 457 visas. The committee has received 47 answers in relation to those matters. That has diverted many departmental officers from day-to-day tasks. Many of these questions will require the retrieval of extensive data from systems and/or coordination of input from state offices—and in fact in some cases from overseas posts. Preparation of the answers has occurred at a time of competing priorities in the area responsible—that of coordinating investigations into a range of allegations that have been made, major policy issues around the meat industry and coordinating work on the report requested by COAG.

Senator Payne, the chair of the committee, has acknowledged that DIMA was the recipient of an enormous volume of questions on notice—in particular on this matter; although I do not know that she made that point—and that the secretary and senior officers of the department go out of their way to ensure that questions are returned as promptly as possible. This I think was an exceptional case. There was a tremendous amount of questions with a lot of subparts. We are doing our very best, and you will have the remainder of them as soon as we can possibly get them to you.