Wayne Swan is ‘happy to be here’ at the Senate grilling he tried to avoid

Wayne Swan may no longer be treasurer, but he is still a busy man. A happy one too.

That was the point Labor’s national president and the chairman of troubled superannuation firm Cbus wanted to establish off the bat when he fronted up to the Senate economics references committee via videolink on Friday morning.

“I’m happy to be here, Senator, and I’m happy to answer questions,” Swan told the committee chair, Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg, when asked if he wanted to make an opening statement.

Cbus chair Wayne Swan appears via video conference during a hearing with the economic references committee.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Swan had been in Melbourne all week with a “crowded agenda” of Cbus board meetings and its annual members meeting. But, he stressed again, he was happy to squeeze in an appearance before the committee to address its queries.

While never the most animated character in Australian politics, Swan’s demeanour told a different story. Rather than ebullience, he radiated ennui. He looked about as thrilled to be there as Johnny Depp and Amber Herd while praising Australia’s biosecurity laws in their infamous 2016 “hostage video” delivered after they were caught smuggling their dogs Pistol and Boo into Australia.

The backstory to Swan’s opening statement was that he tried to avoid appearing before the committee this week. In a letter sent to Bragg over the weekend, Swan said he would skip the hearing because Cbus’ chief executive had already appeared before the inquiry, which is probing how to improve Australia’s retirement system.

Bragg, as this masthead reported earlier this week, replied that fobbing off the hearing could have serious consequences ranging from being found in contempt of the Senate to a fine or even imprisonment. No-one has yet been sent to the clink for defying an order to appear before a Senate committee, but there’s a first for everything, right? Whatever the reason, a hole opened up in Swan’s jam-packed diary and he granted the committee an hour of his time.

Who could blame him, deep down, for not wanting to be there? Only a masochist would find pleasure in entering such a hostile environment.