Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister, and it refers to the ministerial code. I refer to the Prime Minister's comments on 8 July this year when he said: 'Well, what we need is transparency. I want politics to be cleaned up, and that's why we will have strict adherence to the ministerial code of conduct.' Prime Minister, we are now in a position where ministers are liquidating their interests at a rate of knots. Given that three ministers have disclosed shareholdings when your code prohibits this, who assesses this strict adherence and why have you so dismally failed to enforce it?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. The fact is that my entire ministerial team have been entirely transparent, which is why you are able to ask the questions and go down the rabbit holes that you have tried to go down. But, unfortunately, for the Leader of the Opposition's objectives, they are cul-de-sacs, because the code has been dealt with and my ministers are fully aware of it. Let me just say this: if the Leader of the Opposition applied a similar code to those opposite, then one, two, three and four would all not have been able to sit in the ministry for nine long years.

I tell you what: if you want to talk about integrity, you are going to have a big chance. Your big chance is next week when there is a national anticorruption commission bill presented to this parliament. That is your big chance to put up your hand and say, 'We have heard the message and we will support a national anticorruption commission,' because we will be putting forward the legislation next week.

You of course said that you would deliver a national anticorruption commission in the last term of parliament. It was a commitment that you made prior to the 2019 election. We waited until the end of 2018 for the bill to be tabled, and then we waited in 2019 and then in 2020 and then in 2021 and then in 2022—and it didn't happen. Well, guess what? Next week the bill will be tabled. We will see whether the opposition are prepared to support it.