Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Patrick for his question. In the first instance, what I would say to Senator Patrick is that I disagree with the premise of the question. The Morrison government is delivering on our commitment to establish a Commonwealth integrity commission.

The government has already put in place the funding required for when the Commonwealth Integrity Commission legislation is passed. Senator Patrick, you would be aware that in the 2019-20 budget the government committed $106.7 million of new money to the Commonwealth Integrity Commission. This was in addition to the $40.7 million in funding for the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity, which will transfer to the commission. That is a total of $147.4 million.

The government has already implemented phase 1 of the Commonwealth Integrity Commission by expanding the jurisdiction of the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity to cover four additional agencies, those agencies being the Australian Taxation Office, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Senator Patrick, you may also be aware that in the interim the government has also allocated $54.4 million to support the expanded jurisdiction, which means that the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity staffing levels will increase from 64 to 110 ASL in the 2021-22 financial year to support its expanded work. The Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity, including resources and staffing, will be subsumed by the Commonwealth Integrity Commission once it commences.