“As a result of a dummy spit from David Pocock, he’s decided to upend that in a way that advantages the opposition and the crossbench,” Watt said.
“David Pocock was always in here lecturing the rest of us about the importance of Senate tradition and Senate convention, and he’s just gone and chucked the toys out of the cot yesterday. So he should have a good, hard think about that.”
The offices of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is overseas, and Gallagher, who leads government business in the Senate, have been contacted for comment.
House committees investigate matters of public policy, and the prime minister appoints his own MPs as chairs. The leader of the opposition appoints most deputy chair positions, while some committees elect any non-government member, according to standing orders that govern House procedure.
The government would need approval from the House of Representatives, in which it holds a majority, to amend the rules and strip the opposition of those committee positions.
“What the Senate is going to do here is to rip up the convention of how question time has applied in this place,” she said.
Gallagher said she had a meeting this week to “resolve the government’s position” on the report, and argued that senators had abused their power to demand the government produce documents.
“I voluntarily said that I would be releasing that report … and I will,” she said.
Pocock’s motion noted that Senate guidelines said governments could not claim confidentiality just because a document used the word “cabinet”.
The independent senator criticised the government’s threat and reiterated his call for the review to be made public.
“Inflicting retribution on members of the House of Representatives because the Senate is doing its job under our Constitution would be appalling behaviour from the Albanese government,” Pocock said.
“Instead of pushing back on transparency, just release the review.”
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.
