Jacqui Lambie denies being complicit in government’s “vortex of secrecy”
Jacqui Lambie has implored Australians to trust her after she was accused of being “sucked into the vortex of secrecy that is our current Government”.
The Tasmanian senator appeared on Monday’s edition of Q&A, which focused on the Australian public’s lack of trust in their political representatives.
When questioned about getting children to trust elected officials, Lambie said it was too much to ask at the moment.
“Trust comes with leadership and in this country we’re lacking leadership,” she said. “I don’t know how you teach your children to have trust when my generation and the one below does not trust those people in high office.”
Lambie urged the Morrison government to handle the sports rorts scandal with greater transparency.
“Don't say ‘there is nothing to see here’ when millions of Australians can quite clearly see there is something to see here,” she said.
“We have got a report that they won’t release. If there is nothing wrong with that report and there is nothing to see here, then release it.”
However, Lambie was called out later when an audience member asked why she voted to repeal the medevac bill, which allows refugees being held on Manus Island and Nauru to visit Australia temporarily for medical treatment.
In December, the medical evacuation law was repealed after the key crossbencher made a “secret deal” with the Coalition.
The audience member said the senator was being “sucked into the vortex of secrecy that is our current government”.
How can we have trust in politicians when the political process seems to operate in a “vortex of secrecy”? #QandA pic.twitter.com/BznUUXzg8s
— ABC Q+A (@QandA) February 17, 2020
Lambie denied the accusation and asked the public to “believe the best outcome will come”.
She said while she would like to “get it off their chest straight away”, she could not discuss the matter due to the “national security implications”.
“I know I’m asking a big ask and I did it last year standing up, but I just can’t say anything,” she said.
“I’m asking you to trust me, that I believe the best outcome will come.”
Host Hamish Macdonald suggested Lambie might be hypocritical for demanding transparency in the sports rorts case.
Lambie responded, “First of all, the sports rorts has no national security attached to it. So that’s a big thing. I was in the armed forces for 10 years and am very aware of national security and how it works.
“I’m asking the people on the judgement that I’ve made just to trust me.”
Lambie said the Morrison government could not ask the public to just “trust” them because they have “no credits left on the board”.
According to a 2019 election study by the Australian National University, trust in the Australian government has reached a record low, with just a quarter of Australians confident in their political leaders and institutions.
Serena Lillywhite is the CEO of Transparency International Australia. She says Australia’s score on the Corruption Perception Index has dropped eight points in eight years. #QandA pic.twitter.com/Lr0FByOgmF
— ABC Q+A (@QandA) February 17, 2020
Serena Lillywhite, CEO of Transparency International in Australia, said the country’s score in the Corruption Perceptions Index has dropped eight points in eight years to 77, with 100 being the cleanest and zero being the most corrupt.
“Our Government is really characterised at the moment, I think, by … listening to these well-connected individuals, powerful special interest groups, who are really trying to influence the way policy is made, the way decisions are made for their own interests and for businesses’ interests,” she said.