2020-02-05
The Senate today passed the Greens’ Order for the Production of Documents compelling the Prime Minister to release the Gaetjens Report and the Prime Minister office's emails where Bridget McKenzie may have been pressured over where the grant money should go.
The Senate today with Greens support also established an inquiry into the sports rorts scandal to get to the bottom of how decisions were made in the awarding to sports grants and the role of the Prime Ministers’ office.
Greens co-deputy leader and leader in the Senate, Senator Waters said, “A complete lack of integrity is catching up with the Coalition but it by no means ends with the long-overdue resignation of Bridget McKenzie.
“The Prime Minister can’t be allowed to keep the sport rorts report locked up in his desk drawer, never to see the light of day. The community deserves to know what really went on and now thanks to the Greens they will get greater transparency.
“The community needs to see for itself what involvement there was from the Prime Minister’s office in using sports grants to buy election results and how the Prime Minister was himself involved.
“This is exactly why we need a Federal corruption watchdog, like that established by my bill that passed the senate last year when they voted for a Greens bill. The government has been dragging its feet, they said they wanted a Federal ICAC but have done absolutely nothing about it for the past 16 months.
“The community is growing tired of witnessing behaviour from politicians that shows they are serving their own self-interest and benefit donors to their party. If the Prime Minister won’t act to restore integrity in his own team and clean up politics, then he should go.”
Spokesperson on sports Senator Janet Rice said, “For all the Prime Minister's talk of integrity, his actions smack of a government cover-up.
“The Senate inquiry we established with Labor today will investigate the extent of the Coalition's pork barrelling and hold Morrison and his mates to account.”