Glenn Lazarus (Queensland, Palmer United Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr President. I move:

(1) That a select committee, to be known as the Select Committee on Certain Aspects of Queensland Government Administration related to Commonwealth Government Affairs, be established to inquire into and report on:

(a) the amount of Commonwealth funds allocated or paid to the State of Queensland since 26 March 2012, with particular reference to:

  (i) the purposes for which the funds were appropriated by the Parliament,

  (ii) performance measures in relation to Commonwealth funds paid to the State of Queensland,

  (iii) identified breaches of funding agreements or conditions,

  (iv) the proportion of the Queensland State budget derived from Commonwealth funds, and

  (v) whether any Commonwealth funds have been used by the State of Queensland for state government advertising or party political purposes,

(b) the administration of the Queensland courts and judicial system insofar as it relates to cross vesting arrangements, with particular reference to judicial independence and separation of powers;

(c) approval process for the development of projects for the export of resources or services insofar as they are administered by the Commonwealth or under a bilateral agreement with the Commonwealth;

(d) the extent to which Queensland State Government policies and practices are consistent with Australia's obligations under international environmental law instruments;

(e) whether it is appropriate for the Federal Minister for the Environment to delegate his approval powers to the Queensland State Government under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 by way of approval bilateral agreements or strategic assessments;

(f) the extent to which Queensland State Government policies and practices are consistent with Australia's obligations under international human rights instruments, with particular reference to:

  (i) the administration of prisons, and

  (ii) detention without trial; and

(g) any other matter the committee considers relevant.

(2) The Committee will inquire into and report on the adequacy of Commonwealth oversight of the approval of coal seam gas projects in Queensland.

(3) That the committee presents its final report on or before 27 March 2015.

(4) That the committee consist of 5 senators, 1 to be nominated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate, 2 to be nominated by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Ito be nominated by the Leader of the Australian Greens, and 1 to be nominated by the Leader of the Palmer United Party.

(5) That:

(a) on the nominations of the Leader of the Government in the Senate, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and minority groups and independent senators, participating members may be appointed to the committee;

(b) participating members may participate in hearings of evidence and deliberations of the committee, and have all the rights of members of the committee, but may not vote on any questions before the committee; and

(c) a participating member shall be taken to be a member of the committee for the purpose of forming a quorum of the committee if a majority of members of the committee is not present.

(6) That the committee may proceed to the dispatch of business notwithstanding that all members have not been duly nominated and appointed and notwithstanding any vacancy.

(7) That the committee:

(a) appoint as chair the Leader of the Palmer United Party in the Senate and,

(b) elect as deputy chair a member elected by the committee.

(8) That the deputy chair shall act as chair when the chair is absent from a meeting of the committee or the position of chair is temporarily vacant.

(9) That, in the event of an equality of voting, the chair, or the deputy chair when acting as chair, have a casting vote.

(10) That the quorum of the committee be 3 members.

(11) That the committee and any subcommittee have power to send for and examine any person and any document, to move from place to place (including, but not limited to, major metropolitan and regional centres in Queensland and the committee shall conduct public hearings in Nambour, Ipswich, Mackay, Rockhampton, Kingaroy, Mt Isa, Bundaberg, Toowoomba, Townsville and Cairns) to sit in public or in private, notwithstanding any prorogation of the Parliament or dissolution of the House of Representatives .

(12) That the committee shall report from time to time its proceedings and the evidence taken and such interim recommendations as it may deem fit.

(13) That the committee has power to appoint subcommittees consisting of 2 or more of its members, and to refer to any such subcommittee any of the matters which the committee is empowered to consider.

(14) That the committee be provided with all necessary staff, facilities and resources and be empowered to appoint persons with specialist knowledge for the purposes of the committee with the approval of the President.

(15) That the committee be empowered to print from day to day such papers and evidence as may be ordered by it, and a daily Hansard be published of such proceedings as take place in public.

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, on a point of order: I think under the standing orders I am entitled to ask the mover to read out the motion.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You are entitled to ask that, but I think in this context it is a lengthy motion. It has been circulated, and a number of senators have referred to the circulated motion. I do not consider it necessary for the motion to be read. Senator Lazarus has moved his motion—

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a further point of order, Mr President: it is in the standing orders that I can ask for it. Never have I understood that to be refused in my long time here. This motion was dropped on my table—I do not know about anyone else—five minutes before the debate started. I am told it is substantially different. On a cursory look it seems exactly the same and that is why I would like Senator Lazarus to read out all four pages so we can all follow through—

Bill Heffernan (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I haven't even got it.

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You haven't even got it. I would like him to read it through so that I can understand it.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Macdonald. My understanding is, and I am prepared to take this away and come back to you if I am incorrect, that a previous president or presidents have ruled in relation to whether standing orders are not quite specific on reading out a motion that has been circulated and every senator has had the opportunity to read it. I will come back to you, Senator Macdonald, if I am incorrect, but I believe that I am correct.

Bill Heffernan (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How was it circulated? I have not seen the motion. It is not on my desk. I do not know what we are talking about.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Heffernan, motions, as you know, are often circulated in this place. If you do not have one on your desk, I am sure there is one here at the table that you could avail yourself of.

Barry O'Sullivan (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, have you somehow ruled that a point of order cannot be taken on standing order 86?

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, I will clarify that again, Senator O'Sullivan. The motion that was originally moved and passed by this Senate and that was moved by Senator Lazarus. He sought to set aside so much of standing orders that would prevent him taking a course of action. Standing order 86 falls into that category: it would prevent him taking the action he was seeking. The Senate passed that. That was a clear resolution of the Senate only three votes ago. We are now setting aside parts of standing orders that would prevent him doing this. Outside of this context, standing order 86 could be applicable, but not in this context.

Bill Heffernan (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to seek a clarification, Mr President. As I understand it, this motion is for an inquiry—I have just received the motion, thanks, though I have not read it yet—into aspects of the present Queensland government and some environmental aspects of the previous government to do with coal seam gas or something. It is part of the deal that Senator Conroy stuck together at the back of the chamber in question time. Can I just seek clarification. The editor and author of this motion is a bloke called Clive Palmer, on the other side of parliament. My question is: given that he has court action in a commercial matter with the Queensland government, isn't there a conflict of interest that is intolerable to this chamber?

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, Senator Heffernan, you are debating an issue. That is not a correct—

Bill Heffernan (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, I'm not; I'm seeking a clarification—

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The clarification is, Senator Heffernan, that Senator Lazarus has circulated that motion in the chamber, and that is all that the Senate needs to be concerned about.

Senator Heffernan interjecting—

Senator Heffernan, unless you have a fresh point of order, you have no point of order.

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, on the same grounds, on the conflict of interest point, does Senator Lazarus have any conflict of interest in this particular issue with, perhaps, family members?

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Macdonald, it is entirely up to Senator Lazarus if he wishes to disclose any other matter that is on his register of interests, so that is not a point of order. Senator O'Sullivan, I am going to move on unless there are substantive points of order which need to be addressed, which I do not see happening.

Barry O'Sullivan (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have just one final clarification, Mr President. Again, I will have to show my newness in this place. Senator Lazarus moved a motion to set aside standing orders in order that he might be able to do something—

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And he articulated what he wanted to undertake.

An honourable senator interjecting—

Barry O'Sullivan (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am certainly not going to take advice from you after the mistakes that were made earlier.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Just direct your remarks to me, Senator O'Sullivan.

Barry O'Sullivan (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In doing so, the Senate accepted that he could move a motion. This is where I become confused. The value of the decision of the Senate I would have thought expired at the moving of the motion.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, if I could clarify that for you, Senator O'Sullivan: he sought to set aside as much of the standing orders as was necessary to complete a course of action, and that involved two steps. That was articulated and understood by his original motion, which the Senate passed. With all respect to senators, I intend to move on. We now have a debate and the debate is on Senator Lazarus's motion that he has just moved, which is the substantive motion. Senator Abetz was seeking the call.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Not having gained a single voice in support of this motion last week, the Senate is now being forced to reconsider this motion. What are the arguments in favour of it? The mover of the motion is completely mute. Not a single reason has been advanced by the mover. He simply gets up to move the motion.

Glenn Lazarus (Queensland, Palmer United Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm sick of talking about it, Eric—just move on.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And he interjects and says he is sick of talking about it. Excuse me? That is exactly what happened last week—not a single word was spoken in favour of the motion, and I can understand why, because there should be embarrassment all around this place at the complete abuse of the Senate by a majority of senators to pursue a political vendetta in the state of Queensland. Last week we went through, chapter and verse, all the Senate procedure which says, 'Don't go here.' This is an abuse. It goes against the principles of comity. It goes again principle per se. It goes against convention. It goes against precedent. Why is that? Because over the centuries the wisdom of our forebears has told us that it is singularly unwise to try to have these stand-offs between various parliaments in the Westminster system and between the houses within the Westminster system. That is why, in 1996, this was canvassed at great length in this place in relation to the Victorian casino inquiry. The Labor Party had the numbers. They foisted the Senate inquiry. Then, when they started to examine the consequences, they quite rightly raised the white flag and said, 'No, genuinely, this ought be a no-go zone and we will not pursue it.' The Labor Party know that what they are doing in supporting the Palmer United motion is wrong in principle, because they were there some 18 years earlier. They know this is wrong in principle—as do, might I add, the Australian Greens.

Last week and this week there has not been a single word spoken in favour of this motion. But the reason we are now given is that we are sick and tired of talking about it. Well, what is the reason for this motion? I think it is pretty clear: the only rationale is that the Leader of the Palmer United Party has a personal vendetta against the Premier of Queensland, Campbell Newman. Why has this motion been rushed in today without notice, with no forewarning and with a suspension of standing orders? I suppose it would not have anything to do with the latest Newspoll out today, showing that the people of Queensland are now recognising that the Queensland Premier and his government are in fact doing a good job. They are now riding at I think 54 per cent approval, and guess whose vote is collapsing? Mr Palmer's vote in Queensland. So this is a rushed hatchet job to try to recover lost ground in Queensland. That any senator should be willing to come into this place and use these forums for the purposes of fighting their personal battles in the various states is an abuse of this place.

As I said last week, I accept that Palmer United may not be across all the precedent and detail of Odgers, but the Labor Party is and the Australian Greens ought to be as well. The only reason this motion has come up again today is that, clearly, some sort of deal has been done with the Greens and the Labor Party. During the suspension of standing orders debate, I heard Senator Waters from Queensland telling us that one of the reasons we needed this was that they were allowing grazing in national parks. Oh, my goodness. So we have got grazing in national parks

They allow that in Victoria as well. Why don't we have an inquiry into the Victorian government for the same reason? They did not think of that, did they? Consistency has never been the strong suit of the Australian Greens.

If grazing in national parks is not bad enough, judicial appointments were nominated by somebody from Palmer United. They do not like judicial appointments in Queensland. If you do not like judicial appointments in Queensland, then run for the Queensland parliament and effect the change there. You will not affect the change through the forum of the Senate. Reading through the motion, it is basically a bitch session about Queensland. It is a moan about detention, about administration of prisons, about environmental matters and about Commonwealth funds. Any potential complaint about the Queensland government is grabbed and put into this motion.

Not only is this motion bad on principle, as I tried to say in the suspension of standing orders debate; you could have a situation where the Premier of Queensland—and I would advise him to do this—could countermand any Queensland official from appearing before this committee. So what is the Senate going to do? Arrest them? Bring them before the Senate committee? If that were to occur, I wonder if the Queensland parliament might then do the same and have an inquiry into certain matters from the previous Labor-Greens government in Canberra and require officials to appear before it; and, if they were set foot in Queensland, have them arrested as soon as they got out of the airport and have them brought before the bar of the Queensland parliament. The precedent is absolutely appalling; it is shocking.

If that is not bad enough, in this place, out of 76 senators, the coalition enjoys a representation of 33. Some foolish people might think that that might require the coalition to have at least two people on the committee! But no, the break-out of democracy in this motion will give us 20 per cent—one senator. What an absolute abuse of the numbers in this place. Especially for a minority party, I say to you—as some of the older Labor senators were willing to say many a time: 'What goes around comes around.' If you want to use the opportunity just because on one occasion you can grab a majority of senators to achieve an outcome, be very careful, because if there are other unprincipled senators willing to do the same thing then in the future they can say, 'No Palmer United senator on any committee from now on.' That is the sort of terror that you will allow to arise in this place if you follow this absolute abuse of numbers. Be very careful of what you are going for.

If you think, 'The government is given at least one senator, surely one voice ought be enough,' it is not, because of a very devious little clause right over the back.

Senator O'Sullivan interjecting—

No, no. It is paragraph 13, which says:

That the committee has power to appoint subcommittees consisting of 2 or more of its members …

There is nothing stopping two subcommittees hearing and meeting at the same time and denying the government representation on one of those subcommittees. The Labor Party know that and the Greens know that. If this is the way you want to run the Senate, so be it. It will be on your heads. It will be revisited, undoubtedly, sometime in the future. I do not know who the smart alec was who drafted this motion only giving the government one senator and then allowing subcommittees to split off and say to the one government senator, 'You have a choice, buddy, you either sit on this one or that one, but guess what? You are not going to get a vote on this other subcommittee when we are meeting.' I suggest that if the movers of this motion are genuine in relation to clause 14—that is, that the committee be provided with, amongst other things, specialist knowledge for the purposes of the committee—that they seek to avail themselves of the specialist knowledge of people such as Professor Dennis Pearce and former Clerk of the Senate Harry Evans, who wrote quite extensively in Odgers and in a learned paper since he retired from this place on matters of comity. If you want specialist knowledge, avail yourself of it. It is there, black on white, in Odgers. Start at page 77 and you will get an eyeful of it based on very good precedent. But no, they do not want specialist knowledge, because they are out to do somebody else's dirty work: a vendetta on the Premier of Queensland and the LNP.

I understand that break-ups, from time to time, can be somewhat ugly. Clearly, there has been a break-up between Mr Palmer and the LNP in Queensland. I invite the Palmer United Party, but especially the Australian Labor Party in this place, to ask themselves a simple question: do you want to use the forum of the Senate for this purpose to allow grievances of very much a personal nature—albeit dressed up in public policy—to be aired in this sort of manner and in such a cavalier fashion in denying the government its rightful number of senators and its capacity to have a person sitting on each subcommittee of the committee? Is this really the game the Australian Labor Party is entertaining?

The reason the Labor Party is supporting this, and I am sure it is against the advice of people such as Senator Faulkner and Senator Wong, is that Mr Bill Shorten is driving this. That is the only reason the Labor Party has come to this position, and it is a very sad reflection on Mr Shorten and the current leadership of the Australian Labor Party that they should come to such a deal.

If you remember, last week, when there was the suggestion that this Senate inquiry might actually reach back and look into the Bligh government, you could not see the Labor Party for dust. This high principle that the Senate should look into the past activities of the Queensland government should start and finish only with the Liberal National Party. When I waved a media release suggesting it would be of interest to see how Ms Bligh had settled a certain court case with Mr Palmer and that that should be part of the inquiry, and hence moved the amendment, which I will move again today, proposing that we bring the period forward to encompass the Bligh government, the Greens agreed to it. It will be interesting to see if the Australian Greens will agree to it again today. Once that amendment got carried you could not see the Labor Party for dust, which goes to show how unprincipled the Australian Labor Party is under the leadership of Mr Shorten. 'Yes, we'll abuse the Senate to try to get one over the LNP,' but all of a sudden matters of principle come into play if it might happen to look at the Australian Labor Party. That is how two-faced and hypocritical the leadership of the Australian Labor Party is today.

This is a stitch-up job. It is an abuse. It offends against every practice and precedent in this place. It is an absolute raw abuse of numbers. Consider the allocation of questions in this place. If we could get a majority of senators in this place—and keep this in mind, Senators—on this precedent the same majority could potentially seek to deny every government from ever again asking a question, because there would be the raw numbers here to effect such an abuse.

In this place we have always sought to do things on the basis of proportionality. That is the fairest way. That is what represents the will of the Australian people. But the Labor Party, Palmer United and the Greens will today, it appears, come together to ensure that the will of the Australian people will not be reflected in this committee or on this committee. You have to ask why. Why would you not want true, fair representation?

Just keep in mind that one of these days the numbers may well turn around. When we had a majority in the Senate from 2004 to 2007, did we then use the numbers to say, 'Right, the Labor Party does not get any questions. We have the numbers and we can abuse our power. We will not allow the Greens any questions. We will not allow the Greens to sit on committees, because we have the numbers.' No, we did not. Do you know why? Maturity, principle and convention—all of those things that seem to be so sadly lacking from those opposite in this debate. What is not being considered is the consequences and the principles that unfortunately will be put on the practice book of the Senate chamber.

I now move the following amendment to the motion:

That in paragraph 1(a) omit the date '26 March 2012' and insert the date '21 March 2009' in its place.

What that does is simply change the date from the election of the Newman government to reach back to the election of the Bligh government so that there can be a genuine compare and contrast. Indeed, in relation to paragraph 2, where it refers to the 'oversight of the approval of coal-seam gas projects', it will be interesting to see what the Bligh government did in relation to matters coal-seam gas. So, let us see if there is a genuine will in this place to do a compare and contrast.

Having said that, this motion is wrong in principle. As a result, even if our amendment were to get up, as it did last week, we are absolutely committed to voting this motion down, because it is wrong in principle, in convention and in precedent. It offends every principle of comity, which has now been well and truly established in the Westminster systems of parliament for centuries.

I once again invite senators to reflect on whether they want to demean themselves and their parties to allow themselves to become puppets of what is clearly another agenda designed to get even, because somebody did not get their wish in relation to, ironically, a resource development in Queensland. It is very sad that we have come to this and that we are debating the matter again. I had hoped that this place had come to a good landing on the issue last week, where common sense had finally prevailed, the rush of blood to the head had dissipated, and people said, 'Enough is enough.' Let us now move on to the real business of the Senate, which is to deal with matters of national security, the budget, workplace relations and our real core business. But here they are wanting to pretend to be the alternative government in Queensland, trying to embarrass the government of Queensland. And what is the concluding time for this Senate inquiry? Oh, it just happens to coincide with the Queensland election. It is a demolition derby against Campbell Newman, and if they cannot succeed by the time of the next state election, it is all over and out and they will give up. This is not the way you use the Senate. (Time expired)

Dio Wang (WA, Palmer United Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the question be now put.

Barry O'Sullivan (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You are going to gag it! What an inappropriate abuse.

Government senators interjecting—

Cory Bernardi (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The question is that the motion be now put.

Bill Heffernan (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Acting Deputy President, I rise to seek clarification. Could I just clarify this, for my dear mind: given what this is all about is buying your way through government, is the senator who proposes the gag still on the payroll of the company behind all of this?

Cory Bernardi (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Heffernan, that is not a point of order. Resume your seat. Under the standing orders, I am required to put the motion.

Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Acting Deputy President, I rise to seek clarification. Is the question you are now putting to Senator Abetz's amendment? And then the subsequent motion?

Cory Bernardi (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Indeed, that is a very fine question. The question is in regard to Senator Abetz's amendment and then we will deal with the substantive motion. The question is that the motion be now put.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question now is that the amendment moved by Senator Abetz be agreed to.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Lambie, I was just going to indicate that the question before the chair is that Senator Lazarus's substantive motion be agreed to, but you have the right to speak if you wish to.

Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Palmer United Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will sit down.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator O'Sullivan.

Barry O'Sullivan (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator Lambie, I will give you a bit of latitude here. Do you wish to take the call?

Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Palmer United Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do, Mr President. I move:

That the question be now put.

Government Senators:

Government senators interjecting—

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator Lambie, I gave you the call on the basis that I thought you were seeking to speak further. Senator O'Sullivan got to his feet as you sat down. I then gave it back to you. I think it would be a bit harsh to deprive Senator O'Sullivan of the call, but the call is yours, Senator Lambie. If you wish to pursue with that motion, I will give that to you. However, if you want to exercise just a little bit of respect for other senators to speak and withdraw that motion, it would probably be appreciated.

Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Palmer United Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, Mr President. I have no intention of withdrawing that motion whatsoever.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question now is that the question be now put.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question now is that the substantive motion moved by Senator Lazarus to establish a select committee be agreed to.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senators, during the course of the debate, Senators Macdonald and Heffernan particularly asked me about standing order 195 in relation to the requirement to read out the motion before the chair. I indicated that there had been previous rulings that this was not a compulsory matter, and I am pleased to say that I was correct with my ruling, so I am just reporting that back. It was President Calvert and President Hogg who both ruled that the question does not need to be read out if the motion has been circulated in print.

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I rise on a point of order. The motion that you raised had not been circulated as Senator Heffernan clearly indicated, so it should have been read, with respect.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Macdonald, it was deemed to have been circulated in the chamber. It may have been through misadventure that it did not arrive on your desk, but I understand it was circulated in the chamber.