|
March 27, 2025
Home Affairs secretary Stephanie Foster has confirmed portraits of the King and Queen have been removed from the department's headquarters and replaced with portraits of ministers.
During a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday, Ms Foster was asked about the more than 500 questions about the portfolio that have been left unanswered since the May budget estimates hearings.
It came before officials confirmed about 193 outstanding questions were with the minister's office.
Coalition senator James Paterson raised an outstanding question about a decision to remove the Australian and Indigenous flags from photographs of senior officials on the department's website.
"Does it really take five, almost six, months to answer a question about how the flags were removed from headshots that you directed?" he asked.
"I gave evidence in the last estimates about the process we were taking to consolidate information to make sure we were answering your question comprehensively," Ms Foster replied.
"We have made good progress doing that, senator."
Senator Paterson continued to ask if there have ever been portraits of the King or the Queen displayed in the Department of Home Affairs.
'Yes, there have been, senator," Ms Foster replied.
"And have they been removed?" he asked.
"The portraits we have in our buildings are now of our ministers," Ms Foster responded.
Asked whether the secretary had directed the removal of the royal portraits from the building, Ms Foster said she had asked for the minister's portraits to be displayed.
"I'll have to ask whether or not that was explicit that it was a replacement," she said.
Greens senator David Shoebridge interjected, pointing out that the Queen had recently died and was no longer a monarch under Australia's constitution.
Senator Shoebridge expressed similar concerns over a delay in answering questions.
He asked why Home Affairs had taken more than eight months to declare how much funding Palestinian organisations have been allocated to assist people fleeing the war.
"One of the most obvious questions in the portfolio, and we still don't have an answer," the Greens senator exclaimed.
"There's not much that Senator Paterson and I agree on but the inability to answer the most basic questions in the course of hearings so frustrates the public."