Labor denies Albanese was aware of Senate 'cheat sheet', stands by it
Katy Gallagher divulged the information after the Coalition and crossbench senators moved a motion forcing her to provide an explanation on what the prime minister knew about the document.
The Labor government has said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was unaware of a document dubbed a "cheat sheet" for avoiding senate estimates questions, and that it stands by its contents.
Opposition and crossbench senators, however, lined up to slam the defence, and said they will interrogate the matter at this month's estimates hearings.
Capital Brief revealed last month that Albanese's office had distributed a manual of template answers to questions on notice to multiple departments. While the document suggested how to answer some questions, many of the suggested responses advised referring to other departments or documents, or stating that answering the question "would be an unreasonable diversion of resources".
A motion put forward by the Coalition and supported by all crossbench senators on Tuesday said the manual distributed by Albanese's office instructed departments how to "avoid answering questions from the Senate" which required "urgent scrutiny, explanation and correction from the Prime Minister". The government tabled it before the motion was passed.
