Labor welcomes the appointment of Mr Daryl Quinlivan as Secretary of the Department of Agriculture. The position has been vacant for three months.
The vacancy was created by the sacking of respected public servant Dr Paul Grimes and Labor again calls on the Prime Minister to honour his commitment that all relevant documents relating to the sacking of Dr Grimes would be provided to the Parliament.
During the Agriculture Senate Estimates hearing on 25 May 2015, Labor Senators learned of the existence of a previously undisclosed letter from former Department of Agriculture Secretary Dr Paul Grimes to Minister Barnaby Joyce.
It was the Governments own Committee Chair Senator Bill Heffernan who informed the Committee of the existence of the letter by describing the document as one which was later withdrawn.
This letter should be released to the Parliament immediately.
THURSDAY, 11 JUNE 2015