The Wire

Tomorrow, parliament will resume with the government controlling the senate for the first time in three decades. Much attention has been focused on the fact that the senate majority will enable the government to pass a wish list of legislation, such as sell off of Telstra and changes to industrial relations. However, one issue that has received less attention has been the changes that the government can now make parliamentary processes. Tomorrow one issue that Senators may be addressing is whether or not the questioning powers allowed to Senators in Estimate Committee hearings should be limited. The Leader of the Senate is Senator Robert Hill. His office has announced over the weekend that the Government will use its new found majority to limit the type of questioning allowed in Senate estimate committee hearings. In the past these hearings have revealed crucial information about Government major scandals and bunglings – for instance Australia’s deportation of Vivian Solon to the Philippines was revealed through one of these hearings. For this reason there is concern that limiting the power of these committees will fundamentally compromise one of the mechanisms that makes the government accountable. Erica Vowles spoke with the most senior public servant in The Senate, Harry Evans, who holds the position of the clerk of the Senate. He explained the steps that the government would need to do to limit the questioning power of the Senate Estimates Committee hearings.