House debates

Wednesday, 21 October 2020

Questions without Notice

National Integrity Commission

1:59 pm

Photo of Christian PorterChristian Porter (Pearce, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

The next stage for the integrity commission will be a consultation phase. That will be detailed and it will be extensive. In fact, why is that necessary? Because it is a serious issue. As the member for Maribyrnong said, 'As you would appreciate, a reform of this magnitude is complex and would require extensive consultation and design work.' The fact that we chose not to conduct that consultation during the height of a global pandemic seemed to us to be a matter of some common sense. The member for Sydney was on Insiders on the weekend, and she made three statements about the integrity commission. Unfortunately, all of them were wrong. Every single one of them was wrong. In fact, one of the very important issues that we would need to consult on is the issue of retrospectivity—retrospectivity of the criminal law, retrospectivity of standards such as conduct. The member for Sydney said of our model, which we have been very clear about, 'It can't look at behaviour that has happened in the past.' Well, that is just wrong. It is just wrong. The issue of retrospectivity is clearly one that needs to be part of a very detailed consultation process.

To the credit of the Greens, they actually did bring a bill into parliament. It had a—remarkably, in our view—vague and low standard for corrupt conduct. It also believed that new criminal offences and new standards should be applied retrospectively. What's Labor's position on that issue? They said that that bill should not pass parliament, and voted for it. And that is what Labor's position is. Our position on the issue of retrospectivity is, I think, well-summarised in the words of the former Law Council of Australia president, who said:

… retrospective legislation directly undermines the rule of law, which requires that laws must be knowable and able to be obeyed.

Retrospective legislation is neither.

That is just one issue that requires consultation. This is not a game. This will be a very important structure that needs debate and consultation.

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