Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Mayo for her contribution, both in the early debate and also in proposing the amendment. The government does not support the member for Mayo's proposed amendment to this bill. The government believes that, by setting up this independent authority, the government is moving swiftly to ensure that public confidence is restored. I do take the member for Mayo's caution in relation to public confidence very seriously, but the government is moving swiftly to ensure that public confidence is restored to the parliamentary work expenses framework by having an independent body that is able to give authoritative advice to parliamentarians about what is within the rules.

This body will also have the ability to audit the travel expenses of parliamentarians and their staff and will have the ability to withhold or recover payments of expenses that have been claimed incorrectly. Most importantly, the significant increase in transparency, by moving to monthly reporting in a searchable database format, demonstrates the government's clear commitment to creating a system which the public can have that confidence in. In practical terms, this amendment contains a significant amount of ambiguity about what qualifications a community member who the minister is satisfied represents community expectations, about the ethical standards to be followed by members of parliament in the use of public money, would need to be appointed to that board, in contrast to the other positions specified by the Prime Minister, which are more clearly defined and are reflected in the bill before the House. I understand, and I pass on to the member for Mayo, that the Special Minister of State has advised the Nick Xenophon Team that he is willing to have further discussions regarding the composition of the board 12 months after the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority is up and running.

At this point the government does not believe an increase in the size of the board is necessary. The abolition of the Life Gold Pass, the extra penalties for voluntary repayments and the establishment of the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority are the first steps in, as I described earlier, what are the biggest reforms to the management of parliamentarians' expenses in more than a generation, and the government is acting decisively in this matter.

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