McGrath, Sen James

Senator McGRATH (Queensland) (15:32): Deputy President McLachlan, if you don't mind, I will read out the relevant clause from this new ministerial code of conduct that has been in for several months. It says at 5.1: Ministers are required to provide an honest and comprehensive account of their exercise of public office, and of the activities of the agencies within their portfolios, in response to any reasonable and bona fide enquiry by a member of the Parliament or a Parliamentary Committee. It is somewhat shameful that we have a Prime Minister in this country who goes around lecturing us not only all about integrity and about transparency but also about good manners. This Prime Minister is big about how we have to have good manners in public life, and we need good manners when it comes to trying to change things. But when it comes to answering questions, the Prime Minister doesn't have any good manners. The good manners have got into a large white car, gone to the airport and flown overseas with him. This is the problem: we have a prime minister who is not engaged in the day-to-day running of this country. We have a Prime Minister who does not want to answer questions. Forty per cent of the questions that have not been answered in this chamber were to the Prime Minister. That is 40 per cent. This is a Prime Minister who spent the last three years going around the country like some sort of demented robot, talking about transparency and accountability and how he is purer than pure. He grew up in public housing; isn't life terrible. He said, 'I am going to be honest and transparent' but he gets into power and gets in the big white limo and he gets in that leather spin-around chair and he goes, 'Well— Senator Hughes: Bugger this. Senator McGRATH: bugger this.' Thank you, Senator Hughes, for that eloquent but quite disorderly— The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator McGrath, let's keep the standard of language at a high level. Senator McGRATH: I blame Senator Hughes. She's leading me astray, as she is wont to do—and as the Prime Minister is leading the country astray. Forty per cent—that is a big number, but when it comes down to it there are 22 questions. The Prime Minister doesn't want to answer these questions, but I'm going to read them out. I think it is important that these questions are on the public record to make sure those poor people up there in the public gallery can leave this chamber, go to the Queen's Terrace Cafe, have a double-shot cappuccino and understand that the Prime Minister of this country is snubbing his nose at this chamber and snubbing his nose at accountability. The first question from my good colleague Senator Cash, question on notice No. 139, says: On what date did the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet provide an Incoming Government Brief to the Prime Minister or his office following the May 2022 federal election. That's a pretty simple question. It's a classic machinery-of-government question, so it's very, very easy. Senator Hughes: What was the date? Senator McGRATH: What was the date? We weren't asking him to do algebra. We weren't asking him to solve world peace. It was: what date did you get the incoming brief? Senator Hughes: Not too tricky. Senator McGRATH: It's not too tricky at all. Do you know what answer he gave? None—no answer; none whatsoever. Also, Senator Cash asked: Can a copy of the Incoming Government Brief prepared by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet be provided. No answer. None. Zip. Nothing happened there. It was a very simple question. The next question, in my view, was also very simple. The answer will shock people too, because there isn't an answer. My good friend here, Senator Michaelia Cash, asked the Prime Minister: With reference to the additional information provided by Minister Watt on 28 July 2022 at 3.05pm— That's very precise, ladies and gentlemen— in relation to questions taken on notice from myself, in relation to a meeting held with the Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU) Construction Division on 17 June 2022 (the meeting): … It was a very specific question. It wasn't a random question like 'When was the last time you had a scone?' or something like that. This was a specific question, in relation to a meeting, that was asked by my good friend here and that Minister Watt didn't really answer at 3.05 pm. This is like an Agatha Christie plot. We know where it happened. We know the time. Question one was: Can all briefing notes, file notes, emails and messages including text messages and messages sent on any instant messaging service or application between the Prime Minister and/or his office in relation to the meeting with the CFMMEU on 17 June 2022; and/or in relation to the Code for the Tendering and Performance of Building Work Amendment Instrument 2022 announced by Minister Burke on 24 July 2022 be provided; this request covers both internal and external documents in the Prime Minister's office and the Department. That's a pretty specific request. It wasn't what you'd call a fishing exercise. Senator Cash hadn't asked a general question like 'What's your view on the weather?' No. It was a specific question in relation to a meeting and in relation to information that referred to that particular meeting. Guess what? Zip—absolutely nothing; very, very disappointing. Senator Cash, you are living this at the moment— Senator Cash: I am. The building industry is living it. Senator McGRATH: because you are standing up for the taxpayers of Australia, those poor, poor people. That mob over there are about to take away their stage 3 tax cuts, by the way—breaking news there. That's not going to happen; we can all see that coming down the hallway. Question two was: Can copies of any correspondence between the Department and the Prime Minister's office about this meeting, including but not limited to email, instant messages (for example text messages, WhatsApp, etc.) or by letter be provided. We have asked for this on behalf of the people of Australia, on behalf of the taxpayers of Australia, but also, weirdly—I don't want to be existential—we've actually asked on behalf of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has talked to all of us about the importance of transparency and accountability. He lectures us. He could bore for Australia about this. He's a bit of a chatterbox, but he doesn't deliver, and he certainly hasn't delivered on this. Because we're team players, we want the Prime Minister to do a good job. We want the Prime Minister to deliver on his promises. We want the Prime Minister to be that man he promised to be for the last three years. We all know—it's no secret—he's not going to do that. We know that he is a creature of the socialist left and of the Labor Party. Taxes are going to go up. There are going to be new taxes. There's a giant vacuum cleaner over regional Australia at the moment, sucking all the money out of there so it can go to building trams in Redfern or something like that. As important as trams for Redfern might be, we have a Prime Minister who is not doing what he said he would do. He is not standing up for accountability and transparency. I am going to read another question out. For those who are watching in the office or watching at home on the Internet, don't make a cup of tea or coffee. Just sit down and hold on. It's like a rollercoaster! Here it comes. Senator Cash asked the Prime Minister—Saint Anthony of accountability, transparency and telling the truth—question on notice No. 197: With reference to the additional information provided by Minister Watt on 28 July 2022 at 3.05pm, in relation to questions taken on notice from myself— that being Senator Cash— in relation to a meeting held with the state and territory ministers with responsibility for workplace relations on 5 July 2022 (the meeting) … It was a very specific time and a very specific meeting. It wasn't a meeting just with one person. This was with other ministers representing other jurisdictions, all paid for by the taxpayers of Australia. You'd think there would be some accountability here, but no. Question No. 1: Was the Prime Minister or his office aware of this meeting; if yes, when and how did they become aware. I'm not the most technological person in the world, but I can go to my Microsoft Outlook, and I can do a search, look backwards and find out when I had meetings and things like that. You don't need to be a Rhodes scholar to operate a Microsoft Outlook diary and find out when you may have had a meeting or not had a meeting. There are a lot of people who work in the Prime Minister's office. We see them. They all walk around this building rather grandly and push you out of the line at Aussies and things like that because they're very important people! I think one of them could actually work out how to use Microsoft Outlook and find out: did the Prime Minister or his office become aware of this meeting on 5 July 2022? I don't know what they're doing in that office. Forty per cent of the questions have not been answered. They're paid for by the taxpayers of Australia, and we've got some very simple questions. I don't know what they're doing. So we haven't got an answer in relation to that. Then there's question No. 2: Did the Prime Minister or anyone from the Prime Minister's office attend this meeting; if so, who and what position do they hold. Senator Hughes: They could just ask at morning tea! Senator McGRATH: They could ask at a morning tea. They like morning tea. We know they've brought back the morning tea! They're big on morning teas. They're big on having lots of biscuits and things like that because that's how you rebuild the economy! But what you'd think they could have done is send an all-of-office email—we'd see that—and say: 'By the way, did anyone here know about this meeting? Whoopsie! Someone forgot to go. My bad.' You'd think someone would have done that, but no. Welcome to the new paradigm of the arrogance of this government. It is a new government. They've had four months. They are the government. It breaks my heart to say that; I've worked through my pain! But they are the government, and they are in charge. But guess what? They're not really doing anything because they're not answering questions. Then my good friend Senator Cash asked question No. 3: If the Prime Minister or his office did not attend the meeting, was the Prime Minister or his office briefed on this meeting or the outcomes of this meeting; if yes: a. when and by whom; and b. what was the Prime Minister or his office told. These aren't difficult questions. We're not saying, 'Work out world peace.' We're not saying to work out pi, sine and things like that without using a calculator. We're saying: Did you attend a meeting? Was there some information in relation to this meeting? Was there a briefing note? Guess what! We know, Prime Minister's office— Senator Hughes: We know there was. Senator McGRATH: We know there was. So, by not answering these questions, you're not just lying to us; you're lying to yourselves. We want you to be better. We want you to be proud, to spend taxpayers' money and do a good job. We know you won't. We know you're terrible. But at least try and answer these questions. Question No. 4: Can copies of any correspondence between any Minister's office and the Prime Minister's office about this meeting, including but not limited to email, instant messages (for example text messages, WhatsApp, etc.) or by letter be provided. Apparently not. Apparently, there is only one photocopier in the Prime Minister's office, and that's on the blink because they're waiting for Terry or someone from Canon to come and fix it up. This is the issue: the printers aren't working. They need to put a password in or something like that. They can't print these things off. The photocopier's not working, and they don't trust Richard Marles to borrow his photocopier or anything like that—they certainly won't trust a senator—so they're in trouble. An opposition senator: They're not asking Tanya Plibersek? Senator McGRATH: They're not going to ask Minister Plibersek either. What is going on in the Prime Minister's office? What are they doing in there? Having an afternoon tea probably right about now! Question 5: Can a copy of any correspondence or briefing notes from the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet or any other Department about this meeting, including but not limited to email, instant messages (for example text messages, WhatsApp, etc.) or by letter be provided. Apparently not. It's a no. There's no answer whatsoever. It's sort of like that awkward silence. They're frightened people are going to talk to them. They've got a personality disorder and they're just going to go and stand at the corner and stare at the wall. We are facing, in politics in Australia, a Prime Minister's office who does not want to engage with taxpayers. They do not engage with this chamber. They do not want to engage with being honest, transparent and accountable. That is the lesson here, fellow senators: we've got a Prime Minister's office who, quite frankly, don't care about this chamber. They do not care about accountability. We've got a government here who do not care about us. Estimates is going to be interesting; get lots of coffee for that! Senator Hughes: Minister Murray 'Not My Job' Watt! Senator McGRATH: Minister Watt is very scared of Shane Stone—bring back Shane Stone! That'll scare him! It is very important, as people who believe in a liberal democracy, that governments are held to account. On a daily basis when we were in government we were held to account by the opposition—and that is important. As someone who has worked around the world in various different emerging democracies, it is so important for that government of whatever persuasion to be held to account. What we are seeing here is a government who are refusing to be held to account because they are refusing to answer simple questions about how they are spending money and how they are making decisions on behalf of the Australian people, and are refusing to release pretty basic information. That is shameful. Shame on the Prime Minister.