House debates

Monday, 29 July 2019

Private Members' Business

National Integrity Commission

6:23 pm

Photo of Zali SteggallZali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the member for Mayo's motion. As the member notes, both the government and opposition have publicly committed to establishing a Commonwealth Integrity Commission, thereby recognising and accepting the need for such a body. I congratulate both sides for their commitments, and I do note that, in the 2019-20 budget, the government allocated $104.5 million over four years to establish the commission. These are all steps in the right direction, because there have been a string of issues raising political integrity in recent years. They include the $444 million contract granted to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation without a tender or due diligence; a $420 million contract awarded to the unknown Paladin Group, again without tender or competition; past and present politicians helping Liberal Party donor Helloworld win a $1 billion contract for federal government travel; and the appointments of former politicians and ministerial staffers to the AAT by the government.

Meanwhile, Labor is also under fire for the influence of unions over its policy and direction. Members of the federal government have the opportunity for nepotism and favouritism in appointments and the granting of contracts, the misuse of confidential information, conflicts of interest, misuse of entitlements, decisions that favour political donors and crossover appointments between industry lobbying and parliament. Yet, there is no criminal sanction against any of these actions.

Currently, such conduct is self-regulated by parliament and rarely results in real action or investigation. Of 2,200 people surveyed by Griffith University in mid-2018, 62 per cent believed politicians were using their position to benefit themselves or family, and 56 per cent thought that they were favouring businesses and individuals in return for political donations or support. The results also show strong support for the creation of a federal anticorruption body, with two-thirds supporting the idea. The second National Integrity System Assessment produced by Griffith University and Transparency International Australia in April 2019 further confirms that trust in public institutions is under unprecedented pressure, much of it driven by concerns about corruption.

Australians have an expectation that the Australian parliament and public service meet the highest standard of integrity. We urgently need an effective, national anticorruption body, and the current government's proposal falls far short of what is needed. Sixteen of Australia's most senior judges have recently set out a model for what is needed. They say that a national anticorruption body must be an independent, well-resourced statutory authority with broad jurisdiction to investigate any conduct that undermines honest and impartial public administration. It must have the investigative powers of a royal commission—including the powers to hold public inquiries—and the powers to make findings of fact and referrals to the DPP. It must have appropriate parliamentary oversight. The former member for Indi proposed a national integrity commission along those lines.

Instead, the government has proposed a watered down version that is seriously flawed. Under the government's proposal, investigations would be limited: to criminal conduct only—not the conflict of interest, misleading conduct or secret deals that need to be stopped; to where there is a reasonable suspicion only, which, in legal terms, is so high a bar that nothing would be investigated; to public officials only—not the people attempting to influence them; and to referrals of the public agency itself, when most whistleblowing is from within an agency. These limitations mean that there would rarely, if ever, be a full inquiry. The ability to hold public hearings would be severely curtailed, even though the power of hearings that are held in public was clearly evident during the recent royal commissions, especially into the banking industry. Australia must have an anti-corruption body with real teeth. The government should take heed of the principles outlined in the motion and draft legislation accordingly.

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