What's missing here is leadership. What's missing here is the inability of a minister to provide a
time line of duty of care, of responsibility, of questions by senators to the Senate.
What's missing here is the inability of a minister to talk straight, to talk honestly, consistently.
Every minister in this cabinet has a responsibility to this parliament.
So when they are questioned, whether in the Senate or in the House,
they have a responsibility to respond to the questions.
There is no disagreement around the need to have absolute empathy, sincere concern,
for a young woman whose story has been shown right across this country.
We're not fighting over who feels more disgusted about what occurred here.
What we demand to know in this Senate is what duty of care and responsibility those in power,
who are responsible for others, have to their staff?
That is a question we will continue to ask. That is a question we must ask.
Not to do so would be an abrogation of our responsibility. Right now, the ones who are
abrogating that responsibility are the minister and the Prime Minister, because these questions
must be asked and they must be answered. We have hundreds of staffers and workers in this building,
and the rest of the country wants to know that we are able to reach to the highest of levels,
above all political persuasions, to make this place a safe place.
When the minister comes in here with one response to a question by a senator and then
changes that response in responding to another question by another senator, we deserve
the right to pursue this minister to hear the truth. What is your truth-telling here, Minister?
Do the right thing. Speak your truth. All we hear is hidden messages, ducking and weaving.
You are a leader in this government.
You are supposed to be a leader in this Senate. You have a responsibility and a duty of care,
not only to those around you but to our country, as the Minister for Defence. Minister,
if you cannot speak straight and honestly in the Senate, where you must be held accountable,
then how can any Australian expect you to do that out there? How can our defence forces
expect you to do that out there? When we ask you questions about the AFP,
about your role in your meetings with them, you need to be clear. In one response today
you said one thing about the AFP; 10 minutes later, you couldn't remember what you'd said
about the AFP. It is our duty as senators in this Senate to ask these questions.
There is no challenge as to who feels more disgusted and angered by the events
of this past fortnight and, in fact, the past couple of years; only Ms Higgins holds that.
But we, as senators, have to pursue what we believe is the right thing to do,
and that is to understand the honesty and the truth-telling that is yet to come from you.