Senator DEAN SMITH (Western Australia) (15:06): I move: That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Finance (Senator Gallagher) to a question without notice I asked today relating to the performance of the Assistant Treasurer. Before I address the answer given by Senator Gallagher in response to my question on the performance of the Assistant Treasurer, I think it's very, very important to recognise this very, very important and momentous occasion. The government has surrendered on its commitment to transparency and scrutiny. What we just heard in the final question asked by Senator Birmingham was the revelation that many of us caught a glimpse of this morning that the government has decided that it will not put itself to the normal test of scrutiny that other governments have put themselves to for two to three decades. What we're talking about here is the decision of the government to take out of the parliamentary program four days of budget estimates. That is almost 60 hours of scrutiny that the opposition and other non-government senators can put the government through. It is the first time in almost 30 years that the government has consciously decided to remove itself from scrutiny. This is perhaps the most remarkable revelation in the six-month history of the government so far. Of course, there is a 'get out of jail' clause for the government, and that is that it's a draft program— The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Urquhart, on a point of order? Senator Urquhart: My understanding is that Senator Smith rose to take note of the question that he asked Senator Gallagher. He's now floating off into the question that Senator Birmingham asked Senator Wong, so I would ask you to draw him back to whatever he's going to talk about. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Smith, I do have to draw you back to your original motion, which was in relation to the answer given by Senator Gallagher. Senator DEAN SMITH: Senator Urquhart is 100 per cent correct, but it was such an important revelation that I thought I should indulge— The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Important to you, Senator Smith, but not necessarily important to the Deputy President. Senator DEAN SMITH: Of course, the other significant matter in question time today was a question that I asked on an issue that was actually canvassed yesterday in the Senate by coalition senators, and that issue is the appalling performance thus far of the Assistant Treasurer, Mr Stephen Jones. Normally in government if you made one mistake, that would be serious enough for a reprimand from the Prime Minister or a reprimand from the Treasurer. But, no, the Assistant Treasurer has made not one, not two but three mistakes. All we got from Senator Gallagher, who represents both the Treasurer and the Assistant Treasurer in the Senate, was a statement reflecting on her personal relationship with Mr Jones. I don't doubt that there's a long history there. But the critical point we were examining in question time today is whether or not the Assistant Treasurer has the character, has the integrity, has the professional skill to be responsible for—to have management and oversight over—the financial services portfolio. I think it's clear—the revelation that Senator McKim gave to this chamber last week makes it very, very clear—that the Assistant Treasurer does not have the character or the integrity to manage what is a very significant portfolio. It's worth reminding the chamber that a newspaper report in the Sydney Morning Herald noted, when talking about the Financial Accountability Regime Bill, that Mr Jones had said that there had been no sign-off on anything. There had been 'no deal', Mr Jones is quoted as saying in the Sydney Morning Herald. But last week Senator McKim, again, in the chamber, made it very clear. He said; 'There is absolutely no doubt that Minister Jones and I had an agreement, and any claim that there was no agreement is false.' That is a significant revelation in this place by Senator McKim about his dealings, his negotiations, with Stephen Jones. That is an unacceptable way in which the Assistant Treasurer has dealt with some very important legislation, and I would go so far as to say that the greatest bulk of bills that are passed through the Senate since we came back after the election have been Treasury and financial bills. Careful management, careful negotiations of these bills is central to the wellbeing of Australians and their families. And we have Senator McKim calling out the fact that the Assistant Treasurer cannot be trusted with his word on important matters.