Members, Accommodation Allowances

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:15): Thank you, Mr Speaker. My question is to you again, sir. Will the Speaker release individual country members' allowance claim forms and declarations for the period in which he has been Speaker?

The SPEAKER (14:16): Say that again: individual—

Mr MALINAUSKAS: Individual country members' allowance claim forms and declarations, specifically for the period you have been Speaker of the house, sir.

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner: Is he going to release your lunch orders too?

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Education is called to order. As I alluded to in my former answer and statements—

There being a disturbance in the strangers' gallery:

The SPEAKER: Yes, he can be up there today. We do have a camera in the gallery; that has been permitted. I refer the Leader of the Opposition to my earlier statements. As I have said, what has been released by the current presiding members has been the highest level of transparency of any presiding member during the history of parliament on this issue. It's not something that we have taken lightly. As I did refer to in my earlier comments, I have tasked the Clerk, if you like, to also have a look at what other parliaments around Australia are furnishing. I would like to see some sort of disclosure on a future basis and it be publicly available.

I do appreciate the issues that have been raised in the other place. We are not ignoring them. They have only been raised to the level that they have in a recent amount of time. We are taking proactive measures. I think the public also expect more proactive disclosure, not less, and it's incumbent on all of us to step up to that standard. But I am not here going to be lectured to by anyone about what former presiding members have done, because they have done less than us on this issue.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: 'Us' being presiding members. However, I do refer the Leader of the Opposition respectfully to my earlier comments. We are having a look at other examples around Australia to see what they do, and I am happy to come back to the house at a future point in time with those findings. By the way, there's nothing stopping any member at any time from raising a substantive motion as well, leader, as anyone is able to do.