Rex Patrick (SA, Independent) | Link to this | Hansard source

The government have their budget to present. To judge by the calculated leaks to various media organisations, it'll include more efforts to buy votes by spraying taxpayers' dollars at marginal electorates. A noted French statesman once said of the decaying French monarchy, 'They have learned nothing, and they have forgotten nothing.' The same applies to this government. There's no vision—just blatant political corruption on display.

At the close of this parliament, it's again necessary to highlight one of the government's most conspicuous but self-interested failures: their broken promise to establish a federal integrity commission. It's been over 1,200 days since Scott Morrison promised a federal ICAC, and, despite a full parliamentary term, the government never introduced any legislation into either house of parliament. They voted against attempts by the member for Indi, Dr Helen Haines, and me to move ahead with our Australian Federal Integrity Commission Bill.

Whether it's sports rorts, car park rorts, dodgy water purchases, blind trusts, jobs for the boys or JobKeeper rorts, the government's track record on integrity is a disgrace, so enacting a federal ICAC will be the job of the next parliament. We urgently need an integrity commission with real teeth and with the investigative powers of a standing royal commission, able to root out corruption and misconduct at all levels of the Australian government.

There's a huge task ahead to clean up Australian politics. A federal ICAC, a strong parliamentary code of conduct, full disclosure of political donations and improved transparency across the board are all vital to restore the health of our democracy. There is much work to be done, and nothing can be taken for granted from either the coalition government or the Labor opposition. Independents are needed to press hard for these reforms to keep the bastards honest, whichever side wins the election—that's for sure.