Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased today to rise to speak on this historic bill—National Anti-Corruption Commission Bill 2022—to establish a National Anti-Corruption Commission for Australia. This bill will fulfil an important election promise to legislate this Anti-Corruption Commission with the teeth. It will end the years of inaction that we saw under the previous government, who made a promise but failed to deliver on it in that term.

This is an important measure that many people in our community care a lot about. When I talk to people in the electorate that I represent this is something that they're very passionate about, because people want to see the people who represent them in this place held accountable. They want to trust in our democracy. Where we see corruption, and people able to get away with it, it undermines trust in our democracy and it undermines trust in our politicians. As we know, trust in our politicians and our system is continuing to decline and this is something incumbent on all of us in this place to address. Obviously, most people who wish to represent their community want to do so in an honest and transparent way and really want to serve their communities in this place. This measure is important in ensuring that that trust with the community is upheld. I am very pleased that this has been one of the first priorities of the Albanese Labor government.

I want to commend the fantastic work that the Attorney-General, the Prime Minister and the whole team have done. I also want to thank the committee that have looked at this bill and recommended some amendments, which were agreed across the different representatives of different parties on that committee, and, as we should, we are listening to those. We put it to that committee in order to get the best possible bill. We want all members of this parliament to support this National Anti-Corruption Commission. I want to commend their work.

As I said, trust in government and our public institutions has plummeted in the past few years. Transparency International's corruption perception index saw Australia fall 12 points and its ranking drop from seventh to 18th; we actually went from 14th to 18th in the last year alone. The Economist democracy index also recorded a similar drop, with Australia going from sixth in 2012 to ninth this year. This bill will help stop this rot and restore faith in politics by bringing accountability, integrity and a higher standard to public office.

Australians had to listen to three years of excuses under the previous government before it finally gave up and admitted it would not deliver on its promise to establish a national anticorruption commission. The election results show that this meant a lot to the Australian public; they did not forget that promise and the fact that it was not delivered on. They were fed up with broken promises, cronyism, dodgy deals, secrecy, a ministerial code of conduct that was broken with impunity and a government-wide contempt for the truth. We've seen a change of government, and I'm proud this is high on our list of priorities. We are absolutely committed to this bill and governing in the country's interest, not only in our own. Australians have waited long enough. They want and deserve better.

This bill will empower the National Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate serious or systemic corrupt conduct across the Commonwealth public sector. It will have the power to probe ministers, parliamentarians and their staff, statutory officeholders, employees of all government entities and government contractors. It will have discretion to start inquiries of its own initiative or in response to referrals from anybody who wishes to make one. It will be able to investigate both criminal and noncriminal corrupt conduct, and there will be no limit to how far back in time it can go to seek out and stamp out corruption.

The definition of 'corrupt conduct' will be key to the commission's jurisdiction. It is key because it is consistent with existing definitions at the state and territory level, and with the Commonwealth Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner Act. The definition captures conduct that involves abuse of office, breach of public trust, misuse of information or corruption of any kind. Conduct by any person that adversely affects the honest or impartial exercise of a Commonwealth public official's functions will also be included. Existing integrity agencies will continue to deal with other conduct that could adversely affect public administration such as external fraud.

The commissioner will have powers similar to those of a royal commission, and will be able to use these powers to launch an investigation if the commissioner believes serious or systemic corrupt conduct is involved. The commissioner will be able to order the production of information to undertake preliminary inquiries in order to determine whether an allegation could be serious or systemic corruption. That independence of the commissioner to direct those inquiries is an incredibly important part of the design of this anticorruption commission.

The decision to hold public or private hearings will rest with the commissioner. Public hearings will be held where the commissioner is satisfied that it would be in the public interest and that exceptional circumstances justify doing so. This has been a key point of discussion around this bill, and something that people in my community have raised a lot with me; they have been concerned about the 'exceptional circumstances' provision around public hearings. But there are important legal reasons why not all hearings should be public. It's important to not prejudice future investigations that come out of it, and initial investigations may need to be private in order to get the information needed. This bill strikes the right balance to ensure the benefits of holding public hearings are balanced against the potential negative impacts. Relevant factors in determining whether to hold a public hearing will include the nature of the corruption issue, the benefits of public awareness and unfair prejudice to reputation, privacy, safety or wellbeing that may be caused. This is important so that the pros of holding hearings in public are balanced with other potential negative impacts. Without limiting what the commissioner can consider when determining whether to hold a hearing in public, the legislation will prescribe a number of relevant factors, and it's really important they're considered.

Reporting at the end of investigations will provide transparency and also support the commission's prevention and education function. After completing a corruption investigation, the commissioner will be required to prepare a report setting out their findings and recommendations. The commissioner will be able to make findings of corrupt conduct but not of criminal liability. Criminal liability can only be determined by a court. The reporting requirements will ensure that reports are made public where matters dealt with in a corruption investigation are already in the public domain or where it is in the public interest to make the findings of an investigation public. Reports will be required to be tabled in each house of parliament when a public hearing has been held during the course of the investigation. When reports are not required to be tabled, reports may nonetheless be tabled and made public under the usual processes of the parliament.

The commissioner will also be able to publish public versions of reports when satisfied it is in the public interest to do so and if procedural fairness requirements have been met. The commissioner will be required to provide procedural fairness, by ensuring that those who are subject of a critical finding, opinion or recommendation in a report are afforded an opportunity to respond.

I want to talk more about the prevention and education functions. These are really important facets of the establishment of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, because what we ultimately want it to do is prevent future corruption, and part of that will require educating people about what that is. It will have a mandate to undertake corruption prevention and education functions, including undertaking public inquiries to examine corruption risks and vulnerabilities, as well as measures to prevent corruption. The commission will provide guidance and information to support the public sector to understand the concept of corrupt conduct and to identify and address vulnerabilities to corruption. This work will be informed by the insights the commission draws from its investigations and the intelligence it collects about corruption. The commission will also engage in broader public education about its role in corruption risks and about the avenues to report corrupt conduct.

As I've said previously, it's critically important that the commission be independent, and this will be secured in a number of ways. The commission will be able to conduct investigations on its own initiative or in response to referrals or allegations from any source. Agency heads will be required to report any corruption issue in their agency to the commission if they suspect it could be serious or systemic. The appointment of the commissioners and deputy commissioners will be subject to approval by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Anti-Corruption Commission, and the appointees will have the security of tenure comparable to that of a federal judge. The legislation provides for the parliamentary joint committee to review and make recommendations on the sufficiency of the commission's budget.

The commission will be overseen by the parliamentary joint committee and an inspector. The parliamentary joint committee will comprise 12 members—three government, two opposition and one crossbench member from each house, including a government chair with a casting vote. In addition to confirming appointments and reviewing the commission's budget, the committee's oversight role will include reviewing the commission's performance and its annual reports. The inspector will deal with any corruption issues arising in the commission and complaints about the commission.

Another really important issue that many have raised is the risk to people's reputations, which could affect the ability to investigate serious allegations. The commissioner's investigational function will be balanced with strong safeguards to ensure that corruption investigations do not cause undue reputational damage, including the requirement for hearings to be held in private unless there are exceptional circumstances; the requirement for the commissioner to clarify the capacity in which a witness is appearing at a public hearing; the requirement for certain sensitive evidence to be received in private; a provision for non-disclosure discretions about a notice or summons or to protect sensitive information; an express ability for the commissioner to make statements at any time to avoid damage to a person's reputation; and provision for the inclusion of statements in investigation reports where it is appropriate and practicable to avoid damage to a person's reputation. If the commissioner forms the opinion that a person has not engaged in corrupt conduct, a statement to that effect will be made. If a person gives evidence at a hearing that is not the subject of any findings or opinions in relation to the corruption investigation, a statement will be made to that effect.

The legislation also provides, importantly, strong protections for whistleblowers against the adverse consequences, including criminal offences, and immunities. Public officials making disclosures to the commission will also be protected under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013. The Attorney-General intends to introduce separate reforms to the Public Interest Disclosure Act to improve whistleblower protections, with the aim of having these reforms in place when the commission commences operation. There are also protections for journalists. The bill ensures that there are appropriate protections for journalists and persons assisting the journalist in a professional capacity. This includes an exemption from answering questions or providing information that would enable the identity of a source to be ascertained.

The bill recognises existing rules for political and parliamentary activities and makes it clear that the use of public resources to conduct parliamentary business in accordance with the Parliamentary Business Resources Act 2017 or the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984 is not within the commission's jurisdiction. It also confirms that political activities that do not involve or affect the exercise of powers or functions by a public official or the use of public resources cannot constitute corrupt conduct. The commission will only be able to investigate a matter that falls within the jurisdiction of the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority, or the Australian Electoral Commission if the AEC referred the matter of to the commission.

The government has committed substantial funding to this commission, $262 million over four years, for the establishment and ongoing operation of the commission. This will ensure that the commission has the staff, capabilities and capacity to triage the referrals and allegations it receives, conduct timely investigations and undertake corruption prevention and education activities. It provides for the parliamentary joint committee to regularly review and report on the sufficiency of the commission's budget.

This is a really important bill and a historic moment for this parliament that we are establishing this National Anti-Corruption Commission. I'm incredibly proud that the Albanese Labor government is delivering on this promise, unlike the previous government, that failed to do so. This is really important for our communities and for the trust that Australians hold in our democracy.

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