The Howard Government is moving to weaken the Senate committee system - one of its deepest sources of embarrassment and the Parliament's most effective means of scrutiny. Set to take control of the Senate on July 1, the Coalition is already preparing to use its power to veto damaging public inquiries into scandals - such as, for example, the children overboard affair or the wrongful detention of Cornelia Rau.
The Senate estimates process - described by the Clerk of the Senate, Harry Evans, as one of the best government accountability mechanisms in the world - also faces emasculation.
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