Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate take note of the documents.

Well, here we are again. It's deja vu. I feel like I only just spoke in this place about Minister Porter's failure to comply with Senate orders, and that's because I did only a couple of days ago.

Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Watt, could you confirm which document you are speaking to?

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The order to produce documents in relation to the Modern Manufacturing Initiative.

Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much.

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's easy to get confused because there have been so many documents that we have sought from this government and been unsuccessful in having the government release. I understand the confusion as to which document I was referring to.

It was only a couple of days ago that I was speaking about other documents that the opposition sought and that Minister Porter failed to provide, despite Senate orders requiring him to provide them. In anticipation that he would take exactly the same approach for this order to produce documents, I had this speech drafted and ready to go even before Mr Porter tabled his letter today. We could anticipate what his response would be because he, along with many other ministers in this government, has a pattern of refusing to comply with his obligations to this parliament.

This gross dereliction of duty and brazen refusal to cooperate with systems of accountability and to accept responsibility are the defining hallmarks of the Morrison government. In this case, the opposition is again seeking information and answers from those opposite and is again being stonewalled. Again we've seen Senator Hanson and One Nation support the government in its attempts to bury information about how taxpayers' funds are being used and rorted by this government, just like One Nation did when the opposition sought to have documents about the government's corrupt car park rorts revealed. It's a worrying trend from One Nation. We've known for a long time that they vote with the government basically 90 per cent of the time, but it is a worrying trend that One Nation are happy to assist the government to bury information about how taxpayers' funds are being spent and rorted by this government. For someone who speaks about standing up for the public and about corruption in government as often as Senator Hanson does, gee, she seems to like voting with the government to assist them to commit the rorts and corruption that they engage in so frequently.

This dance we have with the government—where we ask questions and they arrogantly step sideways to avoid giving answers—would almost be comical if it wasn't so damaging to our civil society. Frankly, it is a disgrace. It is a disgrace that the Morrison government has no respect for one of the greatest hallmarks of democracy—that is, accountability to the parliament. The Morrison government is allergic to accountability. The Prime Minister walks away from press conferences, dodges questions from journalists and obfuscates during question time. 'I don't hold a hose, mate'—he just doesn't take responsibility. He doesn't do a lot of things, frankly, and his ministers all know that they can follow suit with impunity. The question is: why? If there truly is nothing to see in the documents the opposition is seeking here and if every decision the government has made was based on sound advice and hard evidence—if every grant decision represents best value for money for the public, if every bathroom at a sports field is justified and if every car park in a Liberal marginal seat is required—then why the need for secrecy? Is it because there are even more colour-coded spreadsheets than those we know about?

My order to produce documents in this case sought the release of the merit assessment packs and decision briefs provided to Minister Porter in relation to the translation and integration funding streams of the Morrison government's $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing Initiative. It was a simple request and it should have been a simple answer. These documents we sought should have been close to hand and easily accessible. In fact, they should have been dog-eared from the close attention they have received from ministers as the sole evidence driving millions of dollars worth of investment by the taxpayer. Of course, that's if the process is working like it should, but you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks that good governance is occurring on this Prime Minister's watch.

This Prime Minister won't even allow his embattled minister Christian Porter to choose who receives these funds. Instead, the $800 million that has been allocated for this program will be carved up by the Prime Minister. I'm sure the Audit Office are already drafting the terms of reference for that audit now. The role of the minister here is reduced to the one thing he is permitted to do—that's to stop us from finding out how decisions in his portfolio were made. I appreciate that that reality must be embarrassing for Minister Porter, but it doesn't excuse him from his responsibility to be accountable for the way taxpayer dollars are spent.

In his letter denying this order Minister Porter claimed public interest immunity, something he has become very good at. The minister also claimed that this would unreasonably infringe on the privacy of individuals. It's not like the minister hasn't put down his coloured highlighters and picked up the black marker when providing documents to the Senate before. The final chestnut in the minister's response was: 'The documents informed, and were the subject of, Cabinet deliberations'—deliberations which the minister is hell-bent on keeping secret. This is just another blatant abuse of the protection afforded to ministers through cabinet. The only thing the Liberals stand for are themselves. They constantly stand in the way of accountability to the public.

Community groups, businesses, entrepreneurs and industry must be assured that, when they dedicate their time and resources to making grant applications, the decisions to award funding are fair and merit based, not based on political motivations and self-interest. Absent this assurance, the efficacy of government programs is undermined and deserving applicants lose faith in the role of government.

Rebuilding Australia's manufacturing capabilities on the other side of the pandemic is critical. For eight long years under this government, manufacturers have been neglected. Only now is the Morrison government recognising the important role they play in the Australian economy. But access to government support for Australian manufacturers should not be contingent on what is politically convenient for the Liberals. Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and if Minister Porter is prepared to stand by his funding decisions then he must produce these documents. I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.