You were answerable to the committee members, who posed questions of some reasonableness to you.
We were left without answers to a basic question. We asked about the effectiveness of the Commissioner of the Environment. We were given answers that maybe there wasn't enough media attention when the commissioner delivered reports--there weren't enough reporters in the room--or perhaps the government hadn't made enough corrections in its course.
I am left with an unsettling reality that something happened in terms of the Commissioner of the Environment, which I don't know the answer to yet. I am left with no assurances that things will improve under the current recommendations put forward by the auditor.
I have a question for Mr. Toner.
In terms of governments' responses--I'm drawing on the U.K. and New Zealand experiences, which have been more effective than we have when dealing with their own climate change challenges--how critical is it in these uncertain times, when it comes to the environment and climate change, to have an effective Commissioner of the Environment?