Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Hansard source

The opposition will be opposing this motion as well on the basis that the government has referred this matter to the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner under section 18 of the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner Act. We think that the government has taken an appropriate course and thank the government for taking this course. An inquiry by the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner is likely to be much more effective, with all respect to my colleagues in this House or the other place, than a parliamentary committee attempting to inquire into this matter with very broad terms of reference, limited resources and a limited time in which to undertake that inquiry.

Under the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner Act, in effect, ACLEI has the powers of a standing royal commission. For those unfamiliar with the existence of ACLEI, or of the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner, it's a body that, as the name suggests, exists to look at corruption in law enforcement. It's a body that exists to ensure integrity in law enforcement, and I'm looking forward to that inquiry being undertaken. As the Attorney-General has reminded the House, if wrongdoing or corruption is uncovered by others—not police officers and not law enforcement agencies but by others—ACLEI can refer the matters of corruption that it uncovers in relation to those others to the Australian Federal Police for further investigation and inquiry and, if necessary, prosecution.

I join with the Attorney-General in suggesting that the comments that have been made by those crossbench members who are putting forward this motion—to the effect that voting against this motion in some way amounts to turning a blind eye or that voting against this motion in some way amounts to support for wrongdoing and support for corruption—are entirely wrong. I reject that on behalf of the opposition and prospectively on behalf of all members of the House who are going to vote against this motion. I would simply make the point that there's a range of ways in which allegations of corruption can be investigated and dealt with.

Of course, these are shocking allegations of corruption that have come to light in the reports in The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald and on Channel Nine and 60 Minutes in the last few days. Of course, they should be further investigated because they are shocking. But to vote against the establishment of a parliamentary committee should not be taken by anybody in this place, nor should it be taken by any member of the Australian community, as in the least condoning of the allegedly shocking behaviour that has occurred in relation to Crown Casino. I say again that the opposition will join with the government in voting against this motion on the basis that the matter has now been referred to the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner for further action.

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