John, Labor senators spent last week scrutinising the Government in Senate Estimates – these are my top seven moments. 1. Above Scrutiny Senate Estimates used to be when governments answered questions – but Scott Morrison thinks he doesn’t need to be accountable. His Government gave a masterclass in dodging scrutiny; with senior ministers evading questions and taking question after question on notice. 2. Confirmed – all Morrison has is a political strategy and no economic plan For months the Morrison Government has been coasting without an economic plan for Australia.
But this week when Labor senators asked the Treasury Secretary about his view on the state of the economy, he described conditions as having “general weakness” and being “modest”. Despite these weak conditions and with wages growth at record lows all we got was more waffle and deflection about Labor from Mathias Cormann.
Katy Gallagher wasn’t buying it… 3. No straight answers on Brian Houston They have their line, and they are sticking to it – the Morrison Government continued to stonewall in Estimates on questions over whether or not Brian Houston was on a proposed guest list submitted to the White House for the State Dinner last month. Public servants had clearly been coached not to answer questions about the role of the Prime Minister’s office.
Scott Morrison has refused to answer questions for weeks, calling it “gossip”, despite it being reported in the Wall Street Journal. 4. Dodgy on drought relief How much is really in Scott Morrison’s $7 billion drought package? Hint – it’s a lot less… 5. Department stumped on how robodebt is legal In addition to confirming 10,000 robodebt notices were accidentally sent to welfare recipients, senior government officials were at a loss to identify the legal foundations of the controversial scheme. Under questioning from Labor senators Kimberley Kitching and Carol Brown, officials from the Department of Human Services were unable to identify the legal basis of the reverse onus scheme; and took a series of question on notice.
This is despite a litany of complaints about the scheme’s unfairness and potential illegality. When it comes to issuing debt notices to Australians, Stuart Robert’s department shoots first and asks questions later. 6. The Morrison Government is playing politics with the census Under questioning from Senator McAllister, the ABS admitted they scrapped proposed new questions about gender and sexuality from a census trial after intervention from Minister Sukkar’s office.
The key question is why? A number of major health organisations have outlined their support for the appropriate and meaningful collection of data on sexual orientation and gender. The minister’s preference to exclude questions on sexual orientation and gender mean that LGBTI Australians remain ‘unseen’. 7. Minister for Sport favours clubs in home state despite department recommendations Under questioning from Senator Farrell, it was confirmed that former Minister for Sport, Bridget McKenzie used her ministerial power to reject 618 applications that were recommended by Sport Australia for funding – and the minister spent a quarter of the $100 million available in her home state. The minister needs to come clean and tell all these organisations that missed out on grants why she rejected them. Thanks for reading this edition of ‘The Senate in Seven’, Penny Wong | 