TRANSCRIPT:
Government transparency and accountability is under a spotlight, with question time in the Senate extended because of a motion put forward by independent senator David Pocock about a government report known as “jobs for mates.”
The report was written and completed in 2023 by public service commissioner Lynelle Brigg.
It was meant to be released in 2023, but two years later Labor still hasn't made it public.
The motion, put forward last week by Senator Pocock, the Coalition, and the Greens, has added an extra five questions to every Question Time, with none of them assigned to the government.
Minister for Finance Katy Gallagher claims the government is 'still working on the report.'
“We've just had a three and a half hour question time, and I don't think a blow was landed. I mean, I could be biased here, but, honestly, is that you had every opportunity, talking about transparency, talking about all the questions we need to answer and we gave you three and a half hours.”
Senator Pocock told the ABC last week this was not about "trying to cause an issue," it was about holding the government to account.
So will the extended question time continue?
He says it will - until the Government releases the Briggs report.
"It's up to them. You know that they could have simply walked in and given us a report where they have no grounds to withhold this. This was a report that Minister Gallagher herself said, When I get it, I'll be releasing it to the public in line with public expectations, and that certainly is an expectation of the public. They've sat on it for two years, and in that two years we've seen all sorts of former Labor politicians get some pretty plum jobs."
The push for the release comes at a time when government transparency is under scrutiny, with the Centre for Public Integrity releasing the Albanese government's 'Integrity Report Card', showing substandard results on multiple fronts.
The Centre accuses the government of "leaning into a culture of secrecy."
Mirroring this concern is Transparency International, a non-government organisation focusing on combating government corruption.
The organisation's CEO, Clancy Moore, says he's worried about how government roles are being appointed.
"So the recent shenanigans in the Senate are not in anyone's interest, let alone the government's. And what we would like to see is the full release of the jobs for mates report and some ongoing commitments to improve how government roles are appointed, including full transparency and publishing of selection criteria for all government jobs."
Mr Moore warns that the stoush surrounding the 'jobs for mates' report is proof that capital's influence on politics is too powerful.
"The influence of big business and wealthy individuals on our political system has been far too strong for far too long, and we've been very clear in our calls for greater transparency around who's lobbying who, where political donations are coming from, and how decisions are made. When you have a system where former politicians and ministers can parachute into very well paid jobs upon their politics without any accountability it really undermines the system and increases the risk of corruption."
Independent Senator Monique Ryan is adding her voice to the rising chorus of crossbench concern, declaring the government shows a disturbing lack of transparency and a failure to act on issues vital to her constituents.
Senator Ryan specifically links the lack of transparency to a "jobs for mates" culture and flawed Freedom of Information legislation.
She says she is so concerned she is pushing a private member's bill that demands greater clarity around lobbying activities.
"Early this week, I reintroduced my private members bill, which is around transparency, around lobbying activities, and effectively, what it would do it was would force all professional lobbyists in this building to be on the lobbyist register. It's remarkable that only 20% of them have to be on it at this point in time, it would open up their diaries and ministerial diaries so that we know who the Minister is meeting with when and where and why the mending with people, and it would also enforce a closing of the revolving door between senior public servants and ministerial appointments and industry."
The drama increased as the government tried to block senators from skipping any portion of question time, a move Senator Pocock called "petty" retaliation.
He says they are hitting back because he successfully extended last week's session, forcing ministers to answer more questions.
The move would require senators to seek permission from the chamber or the whips to leave for any reason at all, including a quick trip to the bathroom.
The former Wallabies captain thinks it's a clear jab at him, known around parliament for going to the gym during his breaks.
