SENATOR DEAN SMITH
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES AND TREASURY
SENATOR FOR WESTERN AUSTRALIA
MEDIA RELEASE
3 December 2024
LABOR TRASHES SENATE SCRUTINY
The Albanese Labor Government continues to make a mockery of its election vow to be responsive and transparent – failing to comply with Senate orders to provide information until months after the due date, or not at all.
Over the last year, the Senate has agreed to more than 30 Orders for the Production of Documents moved by Senator Dean Smith.
Three remain outstanding, 11 have been only partially complied with and 20 were submitted late.
A request for documents on national competition was returned after 130 days.
These OPD’s have requested information from the Treasurer, the Assistant Treasurer, the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, and other Ministers on WA’s share of the GST, productivity and competition reform, Federal-State financial relations, the Not-For-Profit Sector Development Blueprint and the 2026 Census, among other issues.
In one case, the Assistant Charity Minister’s office delayed the return on documents on the rollout of tax reporting requirements for not-for-profit organisations so that it could not be used by a Senate Economics Committee inquiry.
It was in the same spirit that Labor rammed bill after bill through Parliament on the final sitting day of 2024, denying Senators the chance to scrutinise them.
This repeated, often deliberate, behaviour by the Albanese Government confirms that, beneath its moral grandstanding, it has no respect for the authority of the Senate or improved accountability in government.
Quotes attributable to Senator Dean Smith:
“These OPDs are a standard practice of Opposition scrutiny of Government and, because they’re agreed to and ordered by the Senate, they must be respected.”
“Labor’s delays and avoidance tactics highlight its contempt not only for the Senate, but for the accountability and transparency it made so much of at the last election.”
“This remains on the Notice Paper, a record of Labor’s underperformance and broken promises.”
ENDS