DOOSTOP
AUSTRALIAN PARLIAMENT HOUSE
30 October 2025
Topics: Secrecy of Albanese Government, transparency measures moved in the Senate, government retaliation tactics, environmental reforms, Baby Priya’s Bill
E&OE…………………………………
ANNE RUSTON: Thank you very much. Today we're standing before you because yesterday basically every single party in this Parliament said that they've had enough of the secrecy of this Albanese Labor Government. They have been treating us with contempt in the Senate, despite the will of the Senate being proved time and time and time again that we wanted information. Information about important issues that the Government continues to refuse to give it to us. And on the back of a motion moved by Senator David Pocock, we forced the Government to actually accept responsibility for their lack of transparency and accountability to the Australian public about really, really important issues.
I mean, this week we saw the Government come kicking and screaming because they were forced to provide an incoming government brief that showed that their energy policy was in a complete state of disarray and that energy bills are going to go up. We saw, by forcing them through Estimates, that despite the promises of the Prime Minister that when you visited your GP it would be for free, we found out that the cost of going to your GP, your out of pocket costs, are only going to continue to go up. The Centre for Public Integrity gave the Albanese Government a fail when it came to transparency. So, yesterday, in the Senate, we [supported] a motion that was moved by David Pocock and supported by every single person in the Senate, with the exception of the Labor Party, to say that they need to turn up to Question Time and answer more questions every day until they comply with the order that the Senate has demanded that they comply with.
So, I stand here with my colleagues on the crossbench, my colleagues in the National Party to say to the Australian Labor Party you cannot withhold important information. Australians deserve to have access to that information. And we will continue to fight on your behalf so you have the information about what your government is doing. They cannot be secretive, and they cannot continue, when they don't get their own way, to abuse their power and start bullying this Parliament. The sovereignty of the Senate is absolutely something that we hold very dear. And if we do something in the Senate that the Labor Party doesn't like they cannot take punitive action like they've threatened to do in the House of Representatives by withdrawing Deputy Chairs from Opposition Members of Parliament. This is the kind of behaviour that we are used to seeing on building sites. It should not be in our Parliament and we will not tolerate it.
BRIDGET MCKENZIE: Well, Section 49 of our Constitution holds that both chambers of this Parliament are sovereign entities, and the work of the Australian Senate is to hold executive power to account. We do that in a world-class Senate Estimates system, and when the Senate Chamber makes an order, that is to be complied with by the Executive. Ministers should be turning up and making explanations when the Senate Chamber requests it. FOIs should be provided. Orders for production of documents need to be complied with. And what we've seen from the Labor Party is a complete disregard, disrespect about the sovereignty of the Senate chamber. And so, it was great privilege that everyone in the Senate, other than the Labor Party and the Government, joined with David Pocock to hold this Government to account on behalf of the Australian people who sent us here. If we don't stand up, as the people's representatives, to uphold our constitutional rights and responsibilities as Parliamentarians and Senators, then no one else will. We are the only check, our chamber is the only check on executive power because executive power controls the House of Reps, that's how it's built. So, I'm very proud to stand with not just the crossbench and Senators here but also with those in the House of Representatives who want to see this government's transparency record corrected. So, I would encourage the Government to comply with the order of the Senate and then they can get back to not answering questions.
DAVID POCKOCK: The Albanese Labor Government promised a huge amount in Opposition about ending secrecy, about being more transparent, and yet when the numbers were crunched on the last Parliament they were more secretive than the Morrison Government. And as a Senator seeking information that is in the public interest, they continually deny Senate orders. And they claim cabinet-in-confidence, which is contrary to Odgers, to Senate Standing Orders and contrary to what they said in Opposition. And so, our message to the Albanese Labor Government is, do what you said you would do. You promised transparency and yet you're one of the most secretive governments in the last 30 years. It is not good enough.
Specifically on the Briggs review into government board appointments, I'd like to thank Sophie Scamps for her work on this. This is a problem in this place - jobs for mates. And it's something that I hear from so many Canberrans who have concerns about it. They've been sitting on this report for two years now. In that time, we've seen a number of appointments which may or may not have been based on merit. I think until this is released there are very serious questions about the Government's commitment to actually ending jobs for mates.
SOPHIE SCAMPS: A lot of this has come about because of the Briggs Review which the Government has not made public yet. The Briggs Review is an inquiry into the public appointments process to public boards and, at the time, the Minister for Public Service stated that it would be made public in line with the Government's commitment to transparency in mid-2023. So two years on, the Government has had two years to consider this inquiry, this report, and yet they are still refusing to make it public. The reason that the inquiry was done in the first place was because the Government had said that they wanted to end the jobs for mates culture that had become all too common in Canberra. We stand with them on that. What we would like to see is far greater transparency and not this petty politicking that's going on. We want to see greater transparency. We want to see positions of major public appointments made on both their expertise and their experience and we want that to be done in a transparent way. In the meantime, we've seen many, many appointments to major public positions being made and those appointments may have been done based on expertise and experience but we simply don't know because it's not a transparent process and that's all we're calling for.
KATE CHANEY: The Government got itself into this mess through a lack of transparency. And its response seems to be retribution in a way that reduces accountability. And we're meant to have separation of powers in this country and the Parliament is meant to hold the Executive to account. And when the government starts treating committee positions as treats or punishments, it is making a mockery of the accountability that is so important to Australians all over the country who want to actually see government held to account. Thank you.
HELEN HAINES: It's rare to see a coalition like this. This is because we care about our democracy and you should too. The accountability mechanisms in our Parliament should be held sacredly. This is about accountability, this is about transparency and this is about the mediation of power. And what we've seen in response to the efforts of Senators to rightfully exercise their duties is intimidation from the Government in response and I will never stand in support of such intimidation. So it is with collegiality and in defence of our democracy that I'm here today.
JOURNALIST: The retaliation that you get, about Labor saying they'll strip the Coalition of their appointment - how was that communicated to the Coalition and where did that stuff come from? Who did that come from?
ANNE RUSTON: The Leader in the House advised the Manager of Opposition Business in the House that they were considering taking action. We saw this happen the last time that we had a victory in the Senate, when basically the will of the Senate was expressed on the floor and unfortunately for the Labor Party in that situation it didn't come out in the Labor Party's favor. Their response to that was to threaten, and in that response they actually removed some of the Coalition's time in the House of Representatives to have speaking spots that would normally be theirs. So, they just changed Standing Orders to take punitive action against the Opposition.
So yesterday, we have seen more threats to escalate the kind of punitive measures that they're taking against the Opposition and, quite frankly, if they want to bully people on building sites that is completely unacceptable and equally they should not be allowed to be bullying people in this place. I mean, we were sent here by the people that elected us. And for the Labor Party to think that they can interfere with the operations of the Senate by actually threatening and abusing their power in the House of Representatives - and we're really delighted as the Opposition, because obviously the punishment is coming towards us, that the crossbench has been completely united and is standing with us and saying to the Government, you cannot do this - this is an abuse of your power.
REPORTER: To the crossbench members of the panel here, if it does come to the case that the Coalition members are removed from those Deputy Committee positions, have any of you been sounded out to replace them or would you entertain that notion if you were offered so?
MONIQUE RYAN: At this point, there are two crossbench members who are actually Deputy Chairs of Committees in the House - three. And we've sought clarification from the Minister about his plans about those appointments and we've heard nothing. I'm not sure, I can't speak for all my colleagues. I wouldn't be taking jobs from the Opposition under these circumstances. I think it would be an incredibly unfortunate thing to do, actually.
BRIDGET MCKENZIE: I think it speaks a lot about solidarity, that you see the diversity of political views here standing up for our Parliament. And the fact that the Prime Minister thinks that he can intimidate Senators into behaving as he would want them to behave by threatening House of Representative colleagues. It says everything you need to know. Behind the sweet smile of our Prime Minister, there lies a hardened union man who's prepared to do anything it takes to get his way and to make sure his Government's decisions aren't made public. And we've seen it, as Senator Pocock's made very clear, through a whole range of incidents.
SOPHIE SCAMPS: I was just going to say that the Committees do really incredibly important work, so to kind of sabotage that in some way is not a great move by the Government.
REPORTER: Senator Ruston, since that communication between Tony Burke and Alex Hawke, has there been any more word? Have they said that they're backing down? Is it still standing that they might take these Chairs?
ANNE RUSTON: We haven't heard, well I haven't heard any more. Obviously, there's constantly activities going on in the other place, but what we're really hopeful of is by coming out and actually saying to the Government, calling them out for their abuse of power, so that hopefully they'll realise that what they're doing is trashing our democracy, trashing the conventions of this Parliament. And you know quite rightly, as was just said, I mean the committee work of this place is so, so important. And it's about the balance of views that sit around those Committees to make sure that we are actually prosecuting issues in a balanced way that represents the people of Australia who elect us. So we're really, really hopeful - and maybe this press conference and the views that have been expressed by so many people at this conference maybe might make the Labor Party realise that what they're doing is very, very foolish. because I think Australians would rightly be absolutely disgusted that their government would seek to behave like this when quite clearly the will of the people that they have put in this place is being overturned by the bullying tactics of the Government.
JOURNALIST: The inquiry into the environmental reforms has been pushed out until March. Is there any chance that the Coalition would negotiate with the Government before that reporting day?
ANNE RUSTON: Well, obviously, we want to make sure that we've got environmental laws in this country that serve Australia and Australians' best interests. So, obviously we will continue to talk to the Government when they come up with sensible proposals, but obviously this is a long negotiation about a very, very important set of reforms that are being proposed. I won't move into the lane of the Shadow Minister of Environment who's doing an exceptional job in negotiating with the Government. Quite frankly, the Government has only just come to the table with a full suite of information about what they're proposing and obviously we look forward to making sure that we hold the Government to account and make sure that those reforms are in the best interests of Australia.
JOURNALIST: Do you think the end of the timeline is feasible, though?
ANNE RUSTON: Well, obviously we hope everyone's working very, very hard to make sure that we get the changes that we need, because we need Australia to have environmental laws that obviously protect our environment but also make sure we are a prosperous and productive country and that the red tape and green tape that's unnecessary has got out of the way.
REPORTER: Senator, I'll start again on a different matter, if I put it, as the Shadow Health spokesperson, do you share the views expressed by Andrew Hastie, Barnaby Joyce, and so forth, as it pertains to late term abortion?
ANNE RUSTON: Well, Priya's Law was a bipartisan commitment from the then Attorney-General and the then Shadow Attorney- General because of a very sad situation where a child died at 42 days of age and her mother was forced into going back to work because her parental leave was cancelled. We maintain our absolute bipartisan support to make sure that mothers who have had stillborn children or have lost their child soon after birth get the same consideration as somebody who has a child that is alive.
JOURNALIST: Do you have a concern about abortion that Barnaby Joyce, Andrew Hastie, your other colleagues raised yesterday with us?
ANNE RUSTON: Look, I think this bill is about something completely different, and I'm very focused on making sure that we keep our bipartisan commitment to Priya's mother.
ENDS
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