Gordon Reid (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

From Umina, Woy Woy and Adelong over to Terrigal, Copacabana and Avoca, and from Hardys Bay and Wagstaffe across to Kincumber, Bensville and Empire Bay, and all the way out to Mangrove Mountain, every person that I interact with and every conversation that I have had during the election and after has always returned to a central theme and a central topic. That theme has been missing from federal politics and the federal government for quite some time, and that theme is accountability.

Errol from Niagara Park said that a federal anticorruption commission is long overdue and must be a priority. Shelley and David from Kincumber want a federal independent anticorruption commission legislated. Warren and Sally from the Central Coast say that integrity should be the prime aim for people seeking public office. The Copacabana Community Association were delighted that during the election we expressed a commitment to establish an independent anticorruption commission. Peter from the Central Coast says that it will go a long way to restoring public confidence in politics. Tony from Umina voted for an ICAC that could investigate independently, and Clark from the Central Coast said, 'We need to futureproof Australia's National Anti-Corruption Commission against any risk of it being watered down by future governments, by ensuring that it will be independent.'

This legislation, the National Anti-Corruption Commission Bill 2022, delivers on the commitment made by our government, the Albanese Labor government, during the course of the 2022 federal election campaign. It delivers on our commitment to legislate a powerful, transparent and independent National Anti-Corruption Commission. What this bill does at the local level is that it allows me to look my constituents in the eye and say that our government is returning honesty, integrity and accountability to federal politics. This bill is the cornerstone of the Albanese government's agenda to restore public trust and strengthen the standards of integrity.

Importantly, this legislation gives full effect to the design principles that our government took to the federal election—principles that were developed with eminent legal and integrity experts. It draws on the best aspects of state and territory anticorruption commissions and laws. To the constituents of Robertson and to all those, not just on the Central Coast but right across Australia, who have lost faith in the accountability and integrity of government, this legislation is a path out of the shadows. It is a path out of that darkness. This legislation will ensure that our elected representatives and our senior government officials are held to account, because the decisions that we make here in this place will at some point impact you in your place.

Over the course of the election campaign, we made a promise to the Australian people and I made a promise to the people of Robertson. That promise was to deliver an independent National Anti-Corruption Commission, and today we begin the process to fulfil that promise, because that is what we do. That is what Labor governments do: we deliver. We are forward-thinking, we provide the foundations—

See this speech in context