House debates

Thursday, 27 August 2020

Matters of Public Importance

National Integrity Commission

3:33 pm

Photo of Alan TudgeAlan Tudge (Aston, Liberal Party, Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure) Share this | Hansard source

They use this place to smear good ministers, and it is disgraceful. Their normal tactic—and I see the member for Isaacs on the screen back there—when they want to smear good, hardworking ministers, is to refer them to the Australian Federal Police. The member Isaacs, sitting up there on the screen in the back corner, has done that 10 times now. He refers to the Federal Police, quickly puts the press release out there that this person has been referred for criminal activity and therefore warrants an investigation. Of course, when the shadow Attorney-General issues such a referral, the Federal Police, quite rightly, take account of that referral and look into it. But do you know what the results have been from each of those 10 referrals to the Federal Police? How many do you think have actually been followed up and the Australian Federal Police have said, 'Yes, there's a matter to deal with here'? Was it nine out of 10 or 10 out of 10? Not a single one of the member for Isaacs' referrals to the Australian Federal Police has even been followed up and decided that there should be charges laid by the Australian Federal Police. Not a single one! That's the type of thing the Labor Party does to our hardworking ministers who are in the government right now, working around the clock, creating jobs, as the member for Deakin, the Assistant Treasurer, has been doing. And now today they come in and say the worst of all smears that I've heard in my 10 years here. The actual MPI today is about a crime and misconduct commission, a Commonwealth integrity commission, something which this government has committed to, something which this government has taken its time to establish, to ensure accountability across the public sector. I can inform the House that the draft legislation establishing the Commonwealth Integrity Commission—

Mr Hill interjecting

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