Since 1970, Senate estimates hearings have exposed and explored political scandals and governance failures, from the loans affair in the Whitlam era to the children overboard saga during the Howard years and, more recently, robo-debt.The late Harry Evans was the clerk of the Senate between 1988 and 2009. He described Senate estimates as a general inquisition into the operations of government, saying: “The ultimate safeguard against the misuse of power by a government is the ability of its opponents and rivals to find out about, and draw attention to, its mistakes and misdeeds. Accountability is not a refined process which operates on an elevated plane, above sordid politics. Accountability operates down in the swamp of politics, amongst the crocodiles and mosquitoes. The political wetlands sustain our cultural life and biodiversity; without them the desert of despotism assumes the landscape.”Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Fetching latest articles