Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to resume my remarks on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Enhancing Whistleblower Protections) Bill 2018. As I was saying previously, a Shorten Labor government will protect and reward the brave Australians who blow the whistle on crime and corruption, including in the banking and financial services sector. We've pledged that if Labor is elected we will set up a whistleblower reward scheme, establish a whistleblower protection authority, overhaul our whistleblowing laws with a single whistleblowing act, and fund a special prosecutor to bring corporate criminals to justice.

Right now, blowing the whistle on a crime and misconduct is incredibly difficult, with whistleblowers often facing reprisals and some never able to work again. I've spoken to some people who are in this situation, and the effect that blowing the whistle can have not only on their lives but on their family, their friends, their social networks and their psychology is often devastating. That's why we must be doing more to provide that support for people who are in these vulnerable situations and who do very, very brave things by coming forward with information that in some cases leads to charges against the individuals they're making accusation against. It shouldn't be the case that people risk their jobs for doing so, and Labor doesn't want to see good people punished for doing the right thing. Ultimately, that's at the heart of what we're discussing here today: people doing the right thing and uncovering activities that in some respects are illegal but in many cases have involved people acting underhandedly for profits and financial gain for themselves at the expense of other, vulnerable Australians.

To combat this, Labor will establish a whistleblower rewards scheme to make it easier for good people to come forward and report instances of crime and misconduct. The scheme will allow whistleblowers to receive a percentage of the penalties arising out of wrongdoing that they reveal. Once a crook is hit with a financial penalty as a result of whistleblowing, the whistleblower rewards scheme would allow a proportion of the penalty to be given as a reward to the whistleblower. The relevant investigative or law enforcement agency will have the discretion to determine the level of the reward within a legislated range. The whistleblower rewards scheme would be funded by the penalties collected by the government, so there wouldn't be any expense to the taxpayer directly from the establishment of this scheme. It would come from the activities and from the penalties associated with the wrongdoing that are blown by the person blowing the whistle in that particular case.

Labor will also strengthen protections for whistleblowers through the establishment of a whistleblower protection authority, a one-stop-shop to support and protect whistleblowers. The authority will have dedicated staff to advise whistleblowers on their rights, assist them through the disclosure process and help them access compensation if they face reprisals. Labor believes that all whistleblowers should be treated the same regardless of the type of workplace they're in, but right now our whistleblower laws are opaque and inconsistent, particularly across various industries, and that can't be the case if we are going to be fair dinkum about supporting whistleblowers in our laws.

A Shorten Labor government will create a single Australian whistleblowing act, consolidating all mainstream whistleblowing legislation into one location so that whistleblowers can readily understand how they are protected. This will be a major shake-up of Australia's whistleblowing regime. We will undertake detailed design work to make sure that the new laws, the proposed rewards scheme and the whistleblower protection authority are powerful and effective.

Labor is committed to cracking down on misconduct and corruption in the banking and financial services sector, and these announcements build on our commitment for a banking royal commission implementation taskforce and to deliver an extra $25 million over the next two years for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions to tackle corporate crime. As part of this funding, Labor will appoint a special prosecutor to crack down on corporate criminals. So our commitment is to ensuring that this underhanded conduct, this seedy conduct, this rip-off of victims, particularly in the banking and financial services sector, that has gone on for the last decade, that has seen delayed action by this government, has seen the parliament tardy in its response while victims went and had, in many respects, their life savings taken away from them without government action, will end. We want to make sure that the recommendations of the royal commission are responded to in a timely manner and that we legislate as quickly as possible to put those protections in place. We wish to make sure that what occurred in banking and finance over the last decade never occurs again in Australia and that, where it does, our regulators are well funded and have the expertise and personal to uncover and then to prosecute people who have done the wrong thing.

Finally, the third string to the bow, if you like, is that we want to ensure that whistleblowers—people who bravely risk their jobs, their livelihoods, by coming forward and detailing to regulators, politicians and the media what's been going on in particular industries that is illegal and underhanded so that it doesn't occur again—get the necessary protection they deserve.

So the choice is clear. While Labor fought for a banking royal commission and will crack down on white-collar crime, the Prime Minister and all members of his government, including the National Party—who often try to sneak out of these things when they go back to their electorate and say, 'No, we didn't vote against a royal commission; we supported the royal commission in the parliament,' when we all know that that's not true—voted 26 times against a royal commission. Labor will deliver a fair go for those brave Australians that blow the whistle on these tips of crimes and misdemeanours and ensure that they have the support and the necessary backing to speak up and to do what is right.

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