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Hansard
- Start of Business
- ABSENCE OF THE PRESIDENT
- GOVERNOR-GENERAL’S SPEECH
- NOTICES
- BUSINESS
- NOTICES
- COMMITTEES
- WORLD BREASTFEEDING WEEK
- NUCLEAR WASTE FACILITY
- COMMITTEES
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- MS VIVIAN SOLON
- COMMITTEES
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NATIONAL RESIDUE SURVEY (CUSTOMS) LEVY AMENDMENT BILL 2005
NATIONAL RESIDUE SURVEY (EXCISE) LEVY AMENDMENT BILL 2005 -
AUSTRALIAN WORKPLACE SAFETY STANDARDS BILL 2005
NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY COMMISSION (REPEAL, CONSEQUENTIAL AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS) BILL 2005
HIGHER EDUCATION LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (2005 BUDGET MEASURES) BILL 2005
HEALTH INSURANCE AMENDMENT (MEDICAL SPECIALISTS) BILL 2005
SUPERANNUATION LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (SUPERANNUATION SAFETY AND OTHER MEASURES) BILL 2005 - WORKPLACE RELATIONS AMENDMENT (SMALL BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION) BILL 2005
- COMMITTEES
- PARLIAMENTARY BEHAVIOUR
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- INDIGENOUS EDUCATION (TARGETED ASSISTANCE) AMENDMENT BILL 2005
- AUSTRALIAN TECHNICAL COLLEGES (FLEXIBILITY IN ACHIEVING AUSTRALIA’S SKILLS NEEDS) BILL 2005
- HUMAN SERVICES LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2005
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NATIONAL RESIDUE SURVEY (CUSTOMS) LEVY AMENDMENT BILL 2005
NATIONAL RESIDUE SURVEY (EXCISE) LEVY AMENDMENT BILL 2005 - BUSINESS
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BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IMPROVEMENT BILL 2005
BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IMPROVEMENT (CONSEQUENTIAL AND TRANSITIONAL) BILL 2005 -
QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
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Immigration Detention
(O’Brien, Sen Kerry, Vanstone, Sen Amanda) -
Afghanistan
(Johnston, Sen David, Hill, Sen Robert) -
Immigration
(Evans, Sen Chris, Vanstone, Sen Amanda) -
Telecommunications: Services
(Mason, Sen Brett, Coonan, Sen Helen) -
Palmer Inquiry
(Faulkner, Sen John, Vanstone, Sen Amanda) -
Workplace Relations
(Brandis, Sen George, Abetz, Sen Eric) -
Film Classification
(Fielding, Sen Steve, Ellison, Sen Chris) -
Sex Trafficking
(Humphries, Sen Gary, Ellison, Sen Chris) -
Telstra
(Conroy, Sen Stephen, Coonan, Sen Helen) -
Telstra
(Allison, Sen Lyn, Coonan, Sen Helen) -
Palmer Report
(Ludwig, Sen Joe, Vanstone, Sen Amanda) -
AgQuip Field Days
(Joyce, Sen Barnaby, Macdonald, Sen Ian) -
Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs
(Carr, Sen Kim, Vanstone, Sen Amanda)
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Immigration Detention
- QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE: TAKE NOTE OF ANSWERS
- MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
- BUSINESS
- DOCUMENTS
- AUDITOR-GENERAL’S REPORTS
- COMMITTEES
- MINISTERIAL RESPONSIBILITY
- FIRST SPEECH
- FIRST SPEECH
- FIRST SPEECH
- DOCUMENTS
- COMMITTEES
- AUDITOR-GENERAL’S REPORTS
- ADJOURNMENT
- Adjournment
- DOCUMENTS
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QUESTIONS ON NOTICE
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Minister for Defence: Overseas Travel
(Evans, Sen Chris, Hill, Sen Robert) -
Prime Minister and Cabinet: Customer Service
(Evans, Sen Chris, Hill, Sen Robert) -
Eyre Peninsula Bushfire Recovery Assistance
(O’Brien, Sen Kerry, Macdonald, Sen Ian) -
Eyre Peninsula Bushfire Recovery Assistance
(O’Brien, Sen Kerry, Patterson, Sen Kay) -
Family Relationship Centres
(O’Brien, Sen Kerry, Ellison, Sen Chris) -
Child Support Payments
(Kirk, Sen Linda, Patterson, Sen Kay)
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Minister for Defence: Overseas Travel
Page: 105
Senator NETTLE (4:23 PM)
—The Australian Greens welcome this debate about ministerial responsibility because it is a critical issue for this new Senate. The Australian people are watching this new Senate very closely to see if this government will respect our institutions of democracy or be arrogant with its increased numbers. One of the most important aspects of our system of democracy is the concept of ministerial responsibility. An encyclopedia I consulted gave the following definition of ministerial responsibility:
Ministerial responsibility or Individual ministerial responsibility is a constitutional convention in governments using the Westminster System that a cabinet minister bears the ultimate responsibility for the actions of their ministry.
… … …
This responsibility means that if waste, corruption, or any other misbehaviour is found to have occurred within a ministry, the minister is responsible even if the minister had no knowledge of the actions.
… … …
If misdeeds are found to have occurred in a ministry the minister is expected to resign.
… … …
The principle is considered essential as it is seen to guarantee that an elected official is answerable for every single government decision. It is also important to motivate ministers to closely scrutinize the activities within their departments.
The Prime Minister has turned the meaning of ministerial responsibility on its head. At a press conference on 14 July, the Prime Minister said:
I indicated last weekend that Ministers should go if they are directly responsible for significant failings, or mistakes or if their continued presence in the Government is damaging to the Government.
A journalist then asked the Prime Minister:
Didn’t Ministerial responsibility used to mean that if something went seriously wrong on a Minister’s watch it was the Minister’s responsibility?
To which the Prime Minister replied:
Well different people have asserted different things. I’ve given you my view of it and the view that has I think, been more consistently adopted over time.
It certainly has been consistently adopted by this Prime Minister. Now that the government has the numbers in the Senate it is quite willing to trash what the encyclopedia tells us is a longstanding and important convention of our democracy. Mr Howard’s criterion for ministerial responsibility is that ministers do not have to take responsibility for their departments. The new criterion is that a minister will only be removed if they are damaging the government. No longer do we have ministers serving the people of Australia; they serve the government and the political purposes of the Liberal Party of Australia.
The prioritising of the Liberal Party’s political purposes extends beyond government ministers. The politicisation of the Public Service is such that public servants are now rewarded for failing the public and being scapegoats for this government. Bill Farmer, the former Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, was not punished or reprimanded for his department’s failings—no, he was rewarded with an Order of Australia and a prestigious diplomatic post as the Ambassador to Indonesia.
Scapegoating and shirking responsibility are the orders of the day under Minister Vanstone and the Prime Minister. Minister Vanstone has set up a system where it is hard to pin responsibility and it is easy to pass the buck. The minister blames her department. The secretaries blame junior officers. The department blames the private company that runs the detention centres. The detention centre provider blames the subcontractors—and they all blame the contracts, the detainees, the advocates, the media and the voices of opposition. No-one is prepared to stand up and take responsibility.
The minister has the opportunity to take some responsibility and make up for the massive failings and negligence of her department in the case of Vivian Solon. The minister should be doing everything she can to ensure that Ms Solon is returned home as soon as possible and that all her needs are provided for. The Minister’s arrogance and failure affect real people. Right now, Vivian Solon is languishing in the Philippines, away from her two children. What the minister and the government could and should be doing is giving clear instructions to the government lawyers to agree to the reasonable terms put forward by Ms Solon’s lawyers: guaranteed long-term care and arbitration for her case if mediation fails. The minister has failed and the minister should resign or be sacked.
The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT
(Senator Chapman)—Order! The time for the discussion has expired.