"Unfortunately the reality of open and accountable government has evaporated during the first session of Senate Estimates. The only thing which is surprising about this is how quickly the ruts of obfuscation appear to guide the Australian public away from the truth of transparency.

“During yesterday’s Senate Economics Committee Additional Estimates hearing, Senator Stephen Conroy, representing the Treasurer, could not substantiate with any detail the result of the Government’s promise of a one-off 2% efficiency dividend.

“The 'efficiency dividend', a technical but standard term, is an annual deduction of a percentage of running costs from an agency's budget which acts as an incentive to efficiency.

"This number represents $430 million across the Departments. I think everybody has an interest as to what resources stay and what resources go to make these efficiency dividends work."

When Senator Joyce put the following question to Senator Conroy, 'Can you enlighten us at all as to why it (the efficiency dividend) is two per cent?' his reply was 'It is a number between one and three.'

"I don't think Senator Conroy's answer stands the test of due diligence.

“This, I presume, means Mr Tanner, on top of the current 1.25% efficiency dividend, has plucked another number out of thin air but no-one can actually explain where the obvious cuts which will come from this efficiency dividend will lie: what jobs are being removed, what resources are being withdrawn?

“Throughout the course of yesterday’s hearings, it is not surprising but runs counter to the Prime Minister's promises of open Government that Senator Conroy ducked and weaved his way through questioning and was required, on numerous occasions, to take questions on notice and fall back to the glib explanation of 'we will be implementing our policies' as an answer to so many questions.

"It was fortunate we did not have to ask the Labor Ministers what they had for lunch or the answer would undoubtedly have been 'we will be implementing our election promises and I will take the rest of the question on notice'.

"Senator Carr's responses, on the second day, took the encore to new heights of silliness as he stumbled his way around a proper explanation of how many people work in his office and what they do. When the questions became too difficult, he reverted to sweeping renditions of irrelevancy or silence. He also struggled to explain exactly what the ramifications of the efficiency dividend will be where he has oversight.

"Obfuscation of the process was assisted to no end by the intervention of the Chair which further calls on these Chairs to be appointed by the majority of the Senate, not the Executive Government of whom we are making the inquiries."