Q&A recap: Trust in parliament worse every day, says Jacqui Lambie

The sports rorts scandal was given several mentions on Monday’s episode of Q&A, on trust.

Independent senator Jacqui Lambie appears on Q&A.

Monday night’s Q&A revolved around trust, why so few have got it, how so many are losing it, and what we can do about it.

The episode comes in the wake of the sports rorts and refusal from the Morrison government to release the report into the matter, which came in for several mentions by Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie. 

“We’ve got a report and they say there’s nothing to see here, if there’s nothing wrong with that report release it out,” said Senator Lambie.

“The trust in parliament is getting worse every day, it’s nearly hit ground zero.”

“Parts of Australia were quite shocked when they saw citizens shouting at the PM,” Labor MP Clare O’Neil said, speaking of the frosty reception Prime Minister Scott Morrison received at Cobargo. 

“To them this is what I mean the way we present ourselves at the top trickles down to society,” said Senator Lambie. 

But Senator Lambie, who came to fame on the Clive Palmer ticket in 2013, came in for scrutiny of her own for her role in the medivac repeal bill which she agreed to after an undisclosed deal with the Morrison government.

“I asked in parliament for people to trust me and to give me some time.

“For somebody that likes to get it off their chest straight away and get out there on the front foot, it is really playing on me and I’m really struggling with it,” she said. 

“So I know you don’t trust any politicians and I know I’m asking a big ask and I did it last year standing up but I just can’t say anything because the national security implications that are attached to it.

“I’m asking you to trust me, that I believe the best outcome will come.”

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

John Howard famously made trust the centrepiece of his 2004 election, when he stumped up and announced, “This election, ladies and gentlemen, will be about trust”. 

Labor used that same line to attack him years later. 

When asked why Senator Lambie was any different from Mr Morrison for refusing to release the report, she said it was “because the government has no credits left on the board”.

Host Hamish Macdonald used trust as a fulcrum to pivot to issues of public debate and political donations and the trust-destroying inferno that was the royal commission into misconduct in the banking, superannuation and financial services industry. 

NAB board member Simon McKeon said trust clearly had a dollar value pointing Australians in the direction of share prices for so many big banks and financial institutions over the course of the royal commission.

“Literally day by day, depending whether it was a good or a disastrous day in terms of evidence. The stock market was looking at it, literally minute by minute at times,” he said. 

The share price of scandal-plagued IOOF’s share price plunged around 40 per cent, or $1 billion in value, over two days, after its CEO Chris Kelaher appeared before the royal commission. 

“The good news is that I think these institutions, of which I am part, get it. The real issue is what the heck do we do about it?” Mr McKeon said. 

Mr McKeon said it was clear rising inequality was feeding the falling trust. 

“Where is the greatest divide, or the emerging divide in wealth income? It’s in the West at the moment. And it is not surprising to me at all that many people are voting with their feet in relation to saying, ‘I can’t trust an organisation anymore. What has it done for me?’

“I think my parents or grandparents were better treated in this Western society.”

Transparency International CEO Serena Lillywhite, speaking from the audience, said the data showed Australia was experiencing a growing perception of corruption, falling eight points in the last eight years.

“One of the reasons why that’s happened or one of the reasons why countries are perceived to be corrupt is when you have a situation where governments are increasingly listening to and influenced by the voices of well-connected individuals and special interest groups,” she said. 

“So you see this very cosy relationships being established.

“A culture of mateship that can warp the way decisions are made and they’re not made in the public interest and you have revolving doors people moving straight out the fronts door of parliament and on to the company payroll and this is really undermining trust.”

Oh please! Major parties do not have to disclose what they raise or spend in each electorate but independents do. It is a complete double standard. #qanda

— 🌏 Zali Steggall MP (@zalisteggall) February 17, 2020