1.1        This inquiry, and its one public hearing conducted on Monday, 27 November 2017, are an embarrassment to the Senate and to all the Senators who attended, and were an absolute waste of time for a number of senior public servants called before the committee.

1.2        As the Hansard transcript will show, there was nothing whatsoever in the evidence presented to the inquiry to support any inference of misconduct or inappropriate conduct by the Minister for Communications and Minister for the Arts.

1.3        The whole inquiry was entirely political in nature, and again diminishes the standing of the Senate and the high regard in which Senate committee reports were once held.

1.4        The Minister answered every question put to him at the public hearing directly, without hesitation, accurately and precisely.

1.5        The report of the majority Labor party members seeks refuge from embarrassment by making comparisons with actions taken by another Minister in relation to former Senator Parry’s resignation. There is no comparison to be drawn.

1.6        The report of the majority is notable in that not even the Labor majority could find any cause for a recommendation to the Senate.

Senator the Hon Ian Macdonald
Deputy Chair

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