Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. In December 2018 the Prime Minister stood next to the member for Pearce and announced he would deliver a national integrity commission. But, more than a thousand days later, the Prime Minister has not introduced his own legislation and today defied the House of Representatives, which demanded an anticorruption commission. Why did the Prime Minister say he would create a national integrity commission when he didn't mean it?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I did, and that proposal and that draft legislation is out for all to see. Those opposite do not support our proposal for a Commonwealth integrity commission. Instead, they want one which does not sufficiently provide procedural fairness to individuals that are investigated for conduct. They want one that would allow the use of significant coercive powers on low-level misconduct and disciplinary offences. They want one that would not safeguard against vexatious, baseless, politically motivated and time-wasting referrals, which the shadow Attorney-General is well known for. He has a perfect strike rate of making vexatious claims which have been refused by proper authorities and which detract from legitimate investigation. They want to support something that does not include mechanisms to protect national security information, that does not include protections for journalists and their sources and that would compromise potential prosecutions of corrupt conduct by overly publicising investigations.

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister will resume his seat. The Leader of the Opposition, on a point of order?

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It goes to relevance. This was about why the Prime Minister has not introduced legislation for a national integrity commission, which he said he would do a thousand days ago. It is not about Labor policy. They way legislation works is that he introduces it—

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Manager of Opposition Business will resume his seat. The question, the way it is worded, was quite open, in that it was asking why the Prime Minister hasn't done it. The Prime Minister is entitled to answer that and, in doing so, he's entitled to a preamble. Less than a minute, or around a minute into the question, he is entitled to that preamble. I would ask the Prime Minister to return to the question.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You have the proposal for a Commonwealth integrity commission. You have the proposal that is set out in the legislation that has been drafted and circulated, and the Labor Party have said they don't support it. If you want to support that legislation and if you want to establish that type of a Commonwealth integrity commission, great. Bring it in. Indicate that support for such a Commonwealth integrity commission, as we have proposed it, and you will have our support to proceed. But I'm not going to get into the political gamesmanship of the Leader of the Opposition, who is so interested in the theatre of this place that he forgets the real issues facing the Australian people.

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would ask that the Prime Minister table the legislation to which he was referring.

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The bill is a public document.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am asking him to table it.

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The bill is a public document.