Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor is the party of transparency and accountability in government. We are committed to establishing a National Integrity Commission if we win the next election because we understand how important public trust and public confidence in government are to the strength of our democracy. We are also the only party that has open national conferences and gives access to the development of our policies and platforms to our members, to the public and to the media.

Ged Kearney, Labor's candidate for Batman, has a lifelong commitment to progressive causes like transparency and open government, and she will continue to champion those causes if the voters choose her as the next member for Batman. It is unfortunate that her main opponents in the upcoming by-election, the Greens political party, cannot claim the same commitment. While the Greens political party tried to hide Senator Rhiannon's civil war behind a cloak of secrecy, their candidate for Batman has repeatedly refused to address accusations of bullying—most recently on ABC Radio with Jon Faine. If the Greens political party continues to operate in secret, how can they expect the public to believe them on issues that Australians care about. There is only one candidate in the Batman by-election who will fight for transparency and accountability in government, and that is Ged Kearney.