The Senate passed a censure motion against Assistant Health Minister, Senator Fiona Nash, over her handling of a conflict-of-interest scandal in her office. The Opposition Senate Leader, Penny Wong, said, “It is a fundamental feature of our system of government that ministers are accountable to the parliament and through the parliament, to the Australian people.” Although the Senate has no power to remove a minister, the censure motion is intended to increase pressure on the Prime Minister to act.
Minister’s role to be scrutinised
A parliamentary inquiry will be established to investigate the death of an asylum seeker in an Australian offshore detention centre: “the inquiry will review the conduct of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Scott Morrison, ‘before, during and after the incident’.”