Sophie Scamps (Mackellar, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is for the Treasurer. In February 2023, the government commissioned a review of public sector board appointments. At that time the Minister for the Public Service stated, 'In line with the government's commitment to transparency, a report will be published after the review is finalised in mid-2023.' The final report was handed to government over 18 months ago, and yet last sitting week the government opposed a motion in the Senate for an order for the production of documents to make the report public. Treasurer, why has the government reneged on their self-declared commitment to transparency?

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you to the member for Mackellar for the opportunity to answer this question on Minister Gallagher's behalf. I'll begin by saying that the government has a broad and ambitious Public Service reform agenda. It is about transparency. It is about making sure that we make the best appointments that we can, as a government, as well.

The Briggs report is an important part of that work, but it's not the only part of that work. In our first term we improved and reformed the Public Service, to boost its capability, its integrity and its performance, after a wasted decade under the coalition defined by robodebt. We established the National Anti-Corruption Commission. We've strengthened protection for whistleblowers. We embedded stewardship, as a core value of the Public Service, into law. And we provided critically needed resources to underfunded areas of the Public Service, like processing the backlog of veterans claims. I pay tribute to the minister for that.

Now, all of this is part of our ambitious agenda, and we did, as the honourable member said, ask Lynelle Briggs to review the arrangements for appointments to Public Service boards as well. We asked Lynelle Briggs to provide us with advice on clarifying the role of public sector boards and the skills we need on those boards, how board members should be identified and recruited and how we improve the diversity of board membership, and here we have been making very substantial progress. We've improved public sector board diversity since coming to office. The most recent data showed us that much more than half of government board positions are now held by women—the highest level since reporting began in 2009. And I know that the member for Mackellar cares deeply about diversity when it comes to government appointments. I wanted to say it's a source of considerable pride to me as Treasurer, and to this government, that in the Treasury portfolio for the first time there's a woman as the head of the Reserve Bank; for the first time, as the head of the PC; for the first time, as the head of Treasury.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Mackellar on a point of order?

Sophie Scamps (Mackellar, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's on relevance, Mr Speaker. The point of the question was: will the report be made public and when?

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, I understand you'd like a date, but the Treasurer needs to be directly relevant and he is giving context regarding the board appointments that he has made, and that is being directly relevant, so he may continue.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To the honourable member again: the point that I am making there is that one of the main things that we asked Lynelle Briggs to focus on was diversity in appointments, and we've got a very good record, on this side of the House, when it comes to diversity in appointments in the Treasury portfolio. For the first time, Treasury, the PC and the Reserve Bank are all led by women, and I thank them for accepting those key appointments.

We've received the Briggs report, as the honourable member rightly points out. We are working through it, in our usual considered and methodical way. We will make the report public in due course, following that careful consideration.