DOCUMENTS

Senator O'NEILL (New South Wales) (10:54): I've been listening to these contributions, and it strikes me that there has been a profound change in the way that information is being sought in this place. I'm all for transparency. I'm part of a government that set up the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

We've strengthened the ministerial code of conduct. We've strengthened protections for whistleblowers, but there's more work to do there. We've increased funding for the Australian National Audit Office.

We've restored transparency to the ART appointments. We've reinstated standalone privacy and FOI commissioners, and we've implemented the Bell inquiry recommendations. We haven't been standing still on transparency; we've been getting materials out.

But, in the end, Australians want us to do a job here to make stuff happen for them, to make stuff happen for the Australian people who are represented by the people who are here in the gallery right now, witnessing the parliament in action. What we are debating here while there are histrionics going on over there—they are not happy that these questions they've asked, which go to cabinet-in-confidence material so that cabinet can actually discuss what's going on in the country, haven't come back with what they want.

Senator Bragg is not happy because he hasn't got what he wants back. But this whole thing of calling for documents is getting completely out of control. Every time an unreasonable request for documents is put to the chamber and put to the Public Service, that's time public servants are spending getting paperwork together to satisfy some sort of egomaniacal requirement for every single document that has ever been written.

The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Grogan ): Senator O'Neill, resume your seat. Senator Scarr? Senator Scarr: That's a personal reflection.

Senator O'Neill should withdraw that term in relation to my good friend Senator Bragg. Senator O'NEILL: I withdraw. Between 2013 and 2022, which is a pretty reasonable sample, this technical order for production of documents was running at one order per sitting week, right?

So one request for documents per week to find out what's going on. Between 2022 and 2025, that increased from one per week to one per day. And in this 48th Parliament it has just become a joke.

It has gone up to 4.8 requests for documents per day. And remember that when those questions are asked somebody, who could be doing great work building up the capacity to get houses built, is sitting somewhere in an office complying with what I now consider an extraordinary overuse of this tool of the parliament. They are trying to get documents that in no way, shape or form are going to build the houses that this country needs.

The reality is the practical task that lies before us is being really advanced by this Labor government. We put $47 billion into housing investment. That is 10 times what the coalition put in—10 times the investment they made when they were in office for nine years.

We've got a bit problem—yes, we have. The problem is that building houses and getting on with the job is not being assisted by this inane continuation every week of trying to bring in this minister, who you saw standing there earlier, to answer questions about why the documents those opposite have got back have redactions in them. They've got redactions in them because when cabinet looks at stuff, they don't tell the whole world about what is going on.

That has always been the case. But those opposite just can't seem to get over it. They need to get over it and they need to get on board with Labor's investment in building housing.

We know that too many Australians, too many ordinary Australians, feel like housing is stacked against them, especially our youngest Australians. That is why we have built the most ambitious housing agenda in generations—and we're building on the plan in this budget with some recent changes—to make sure that Australians have a fair crack at getting a house. Having a roof over your head is a big deal.

I have been in this parliament for 16 years. In the days when I was handing out in the seat of Robertson for the current member for Robertson, Dr Gordon Reid, people came up to me and said they'd voted Liberal all their lives but they were voting Labor this time because their kids, and their grandchildren particularly, can't get into housing. That should be our focus, not this inane search for documents that won't reveal anything.

(Time expired)