Senator CHISHOLM (Queensland—Assistant Minister for Education, Assistant Minister for Regional Development and Deputy Manager of Government Business in the Senate) (12:55): Senator Birmingham is right about one thing: we did make a big issue about that in opposition, and there's a reason for that. Exhibit A is right there—Senator McKenzie. Exhibit B is right there—Senator Cash. When it came to avoiding questions at Senate estimates, we saw it all the time. They sat at the cabinet table with a former prime minister who appointed himself to five ministries. So we absolutely made a big deal about this because the Australian people demanded we make a big deal about it because they were sick of it. They were absolutely sick of it and the way they were being treated by the previous government. Those opposite have come in here, and it was a fine performance from Senator Birmingham—but they have a record of being in government that we remember. The Australian people remember, more importantly, that we have a big task to overcome. That is why we absolutely highlighted this in opposition. We are proud of our record in government of actually turning this around. The Australian people know they can expect us to be transparent, honest and accountable with them on every occasion, unlike those opposite from what we've seen. The Albanese government are delivering a higher standard of integrity, transparency and accountability and we are upholding a standard the opposition never, ever did. The Albanese government has reversed Australia's decade-long slide by lifting the country's ranking on Transparency International's annual Corruption Perception Index from 18 to 13. Senator Birmingham: Defend the document. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator O'Neill ): Order, Senator Birmingham! Senator CHISHOLM: This didn't happen by accident. We have established the National Anti-Corruption Commission. That's another thing they talked about for years but did nothing about. We've strengthened the ministerial code of conduct, strengthened protections for whistleblowers, increased funding for the ANAO, restored transparency to AAT appointments, reinstated a standalone privacy and FOI commissioner and implemented the Bell inquiry recommendations in less than two years. Senator McKenzie interjecting— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order, Senator McKenzie! Senator CHISHOLM: We've done all of that in less than two years—more than they did in a decade. The numbers of Senate estimates questions on notice, parliamentary questions on notice and orders for the production of documents have all skyrocketed in the 47th Parliament. Despite this surge, the Albanese government is on track to answer more questions than any previous government. Opposition senators interjecting— Senator CHISHOLM: They don't like hearing about it, do they? They actually don't like hearing about a government with integrity and accountability and a record of delivering on this. The Albanese government is on track to answer more questions on notice than any previous government. As of 13 May 2024, less than 0.1 per cent of questions on notice remained unanswered from the first four rounds of Senate estimates in the 47th Parliament. We are continuing to respond to the mammoth number of questions received in the most recent round. The number of questions has skyrocketed, and it's important we consider whether answering all of them is the best use of public sector resources. Here are some examples of a few that have come through to just PM&C alone. Senator McGrath interjecting— Senator Ayres interjecting— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator McGrath and Senator Ayres, enough! Senator CHISHOLM: 'Which floor is the secretary's office on compared to that of the Prime Minister when the Prime Minister is working in that city?'—that is a question that they put on notice. 'What planning is underway in the case of the King's death'— Opposition senators: What's the answer? The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Chisholm, I'm going to have to ask you to resume your seat. A document was requested and has been provided. The minister is speaking to it. The response by Senator Birmingham to the tabling of that document was listened to with respect. I have called individual senators by name. You are out of order. I call on you to respect the standing orders of the Senate and allow the minister to respond. Senator CHISHOLM: Senator Birmingham is not immune to this sort of activity either. Senator Birmingham asked what temperature the department's buildings are currently set at. Senator Hume alone has asked 13,000 questions on notice in this term. That includes 331 questions concerning paper use by departments, 125 questions on working on the King's birthday and other public holidays and 31 questions concerning who might be the longest-serving agency member. The government wants the Public Service focused on answering questions that are in the public interest, not spurious questions seemingly written to waste the resources of the public sector. We are working across government to support efficient, timely responses to questions on notice. That is our record, and that is what we are doing. Despite receiving nearly half the number of questions per estimates round as the Albanese government did, the Liberals had failed to answer 360 questions on notice when they left office, some dating back as far as October 2019. The Liberals had failed to answer nearly 780 questions on notice by the time they left office in May 2022. Some of these were many years overdue, despite receiving far fewer questions on average: 86 a month versus 138 a month. Over the life of the previous government, this equalled an average unanswered question rate of 8.2 per cent, significantly higher than the Albanese government's rate of 1.4 per cent. As I pointed out, I think the Australian people remember, or I'm confident that they remember, but it's always worth reminding them of the record of those opposite during their decade in power and of the work we had to do to overcome so much damage they had done to accountability and transparency in this country. The former Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, secretly appointed himself to five ministerial positions without the knowledge of the public, his own government or the ministers whose positions he'd appointed himself to. Then home affairs minister Peter Dutton refused to appear before an inquiry into allegations he misused his ministerial powers to intervene in two separate cases to allow a French au pair and an Italian au pair into the country. According to the committee's final report in September 2018: It should be noted that on 29 August 2018, the committee extended an invitation to the Hon Peter Dutton MP, Minister for Home Affairs, to appear at the hearing. The committee received no response. After repeatedly denying that she or her office had tipped off media ahead of a 2017 police raid on the AWU offices on behalf of the registered organisations committee, then employment minister Senator Cash was forced to admit that one of her staffers had, in fact, done so. Senator Cash then refused to provide a witness statement to the AFP in their subsequent investigation. Senator McKenzie only gave evidence to an inquiry into sports rorts after the Senate forced her to do so. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Chisholm—sorry; I have to respond to, I'm assuming, a point of order. What is the point of order, Senator Scarr? Senator Scarr: That's right, Acting Deputy President, on a personal reflection: the accusation made against— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you. I note that. Can I just ask the minister to withdraw the personal reflection. Senator CHISHOLM: I withdraw. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you. Please continue. Senator CHISHOLM: Senator McKenzie gave evidence to an inquiry into sports rorts only after the Senate forced her to do so. The Select Committee on Administration of Sports Grants had previously requested Senator McKenzie appear as a witness on no less than six occasions, but she'd declined every time. The coalition voted against a motion requiring Senator McKenzie's appearance at the inquiry. The shadow Treasurer, Mr Taylor, as energy and emissions reduction minister, changed the law to keep secret electricity price hikes, ahead of the 2022 election, and deliberately concealed from the public and the energy market construction delays and hefty cost blowouts on the Snowy 2.0 project. Then environment minister Sussan Ley suppressed the state of the environment report ahead of the 2022 election because it revealed that the Liberals' and Nationals' environmental performance was even worse than feared. And, of course, there's the gold standard of integrity and accountability: Barnaby Joyce! He has a long record of disgrace when it comes to these issues. He was appointed a special envoy for drought assistance and drought recovery by former prime minister Morrison, and he spent almost $1 million of taxpayers' money in nine months, spent less than three weeks in drought-affected communities and did not produce a report beyond a text message to the Prime Minister, which was, of course, kept secret. So, when they come in here to talk about these issues, it is important that we remind people about their record in government. They have absolutely no credibility to stand on when they accuse this government. We have a proud record, in the two years we have been here, of restoring integrity and accountability. It is one that the Australian people understand. They still judge those opposite harshly. Those opposite have shown no remorse for their actions in government. We will absolutely remind the Australian people, at every opportunity we get, of their diabolical record. And the Australian people treated them accordingly.