Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee, , 8:07:44 to 8:13:45
Minister Watt discusses the significant increase in Senate orders for documents and the resulting workload pressures on the department.
Topics: Orders for documents, Government spending, Parliamentary privilege
Speakers: Hon Murray Watt, Dean Smith, Unknown Speaker, Linda McGrath, Ms Linda McGrath
>> Well, I'm sure once it's completed, it
>> And when is that expected to be?
>> Well, the officials, Ms. McGrath has said that it's very close to completion.
>> So, when official >> I'm not going to give I'm not going to
give an exact time frame. When officials
are relieved of their responsibilities this afternoon or this evening, uh this will be the priority for them in the Senate. In the
>> to be to be fair to be fair to the officials, I heard you say that this is the priority
>> in order of the Senate.
>> This this this this department has many different responsibilities. It is clear, it is a priority of the 39 senators who supported that motion >> along with every other order to produce documents that this government is dealing with. And I can give you the statistics about the explosion in orders to produce documents. I suspect I suspect we would find that this is not the only order to produce documents that this department is dealing with at the moment. Um there are some senators who would be happy to have the entire wheels of government devoted towards orders to produce documents given the explosion in the numbers of those. Um but the departmental officials have diligently worked towards finalizing this OPD. I understand that much of the information that was sought in the OPD is already published within Snowy Hydro's annual report. So feel free to have a look at that in the meantime. Um that's a public
McGrath who I think the OPG was quite specific actually. I know the OPD was quite specific. He was seeking a copy of the cost reassessment report.
>> Well I don't know I don't know if there's anything more we can say about this. It's clear from Miss McGrath's evidence that she and other officials have worked diligently to uh respond to the OPD among the hundreds of other of OPDs that are being lodged every month.
>> No, are being agreed by the Senate when the Senate meets.
>> Yeah,
>> votes of the Senate.
>> I understand that. But I mean as I say to give you some sense of what is happening uh as a result of the coalition's
activities coalition in support of with with the support of other crossbench
>> the yeah sure but uh the number of opds uh doubled in the 47th parliament. and has doubled again in this parliament. The Senate's agreed to an average of nearly five OPDs every sitting day in this parliament which is more than double the daily average in the last parliament and almost four times the average in the last term of the coalition government. I can make the same point around questions on notes
>> senators doing their job diligently. If
you
>> the Senate living up to its expectations as a house of review.
>> Sure. >> But somehow >> under the coalition government, the system functioned with 1.22.
>> Well, I think that's more of a reflection of you in opposition utilizing the powers of the Senate. That might be a demonstration of your level of interest in
>> I think we did a pretty effective job as an opposition actually. We managed to uh convince the Australian people that your government was worth voting out. Um, but
the point I'm making the point I'm making is that doesn't mean we should be denied the opportunity to use OPDS as a mechanism of review.
>> The point I'm making is that if you and other senators continue to clog up the system with uh unprecedented numbers of orders to produce documents. >> Can I finish? I didn't interrupt you.
>> A transparency.
>> Okay, you finish and then I'll have my say. Hey,
>> a transparency mechanism.
>> Can I Can I You asked me a question. Can I Can I answer your question without being interrupted?
>> You asked me if I'd finished. You asked me a question. I said, "No, I hadn't."
>> Okay. Well, you have a go and then I'll
respond. So my my question is that a common courtesy that is extended to the Senate when OPDs can't be complied with on time is for the minister to convey to the Senate a brief letter that says that the OPD has been actively engaged upon and that it will be made available to the Senate in the near future. Has that courtesy been extended to the Senate, Miss McGrath?
>> It has because Ms. McGrath effectively said that.
>> No. No saying answering a question at senator estimates from a senator is not the same. Well, I appreciate your I appreciate your uh level of cooperation here, but making available to the Senate a letter of explanation about why an OPD cannot be complied with within the terms and conditions agreed by the Senate is an act of courtesy. Has that been done, Miss McGrath?
>> I don't believe so.
>> Thank you. Will it be done? >> There's no Sorry. Could it be done?
>> Well, to be fair to Miss Bargar, it's probably a question to me.
>> Oh, sorry, Minister.
>> Yeah. Uh uh you have you have been advised today that the OPD the the response to the OPD is near completion. The departmental officials have worked diligently to respond amongst the many other OPDs that this and every other department are dealing with among the tens of thousands of questions on notice that are now asked in this parliament in a way never occurred before. I mean, the AI machine is pumping out questions on notice. You know, they've all got to be responded to. That takes time. It may not be as quick as you would like, but we will endeavor to answer these innumerable requests as quickly as we