Celia Hammond (Curtin, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to take this opportunity to raise a number of issues with the Attorney-General regarding fraud and corruption against the Commonwealth and, in particular, how the government is planning on strengthening how we prevent, detect and combat both corruption and fraud. The people of Australia rightly expect that our government and all of its agencies act in good faith, act with transparency and act with complete integrity. I believe that the vast majority of people working in and for the government act in accordance with these rightful expectations and requirements. At the same time, we also know that there will always be some who do not act with integrity. There will always be some people who look to exploit the system for their own benefit. We don't know the size or the scale of the fraud against the Commonwealth, but we do know that fraud has serious consequences. It negatively impacts upon public resources—money and resources that should be directed to our essential services in health, education and infrastructure. It impacts upon the integrity of government and its capacity to do things efficiently and effectively and it impacts upon people's trust in government.

We here in parliament, as servants of the people, must take steps to combat fraud against the government. After all, this is fraud against all of us and all of those whom we represent. At the same time, we must ensure that our steps are appropriate and balanced. We do not want innocent, decent and good people to get caught up in frivolous, vexatious actions or allegations. Nor do we want to unnecessarily interfere with the efficient and effective operating of government and its agencies. I know that this is a matter of grave concern and serious interest to the Attorney-General. I also know it's a matter of grave concern to our government, and it is being addressed in this budget. In relation to fraud, I note that we are committing $14.4 million over two years to set up a pilot program with a number of initiatives to holistically combat fraud. The pilot program includes initiatives like the establishment of a Commonwealth fraud prevention centre and the strengthening of whole-of-government efforts to detect, disrupt and respond to serious and complex fraud by providing the AFP with significant additional funding to establish a multiagency fraud task force.

Attorney, I was going to ask you about the Commonwealth Integrity Commission but I note that you have already spoken on that today. What I would say with respect to the Commonwealth Integrity Commission is that I commend you and the government on the approach taken. As you pointed out, and as those of us in Western Australia and several other states know, when these bodies are not set up properly they can be very, very dangerous. We must stamp out corruption and we need to establish a body that stamps out corruption, but we must make sure that such a body doesn't end up as a foot on the throats of innocent people, slowly and often publicly choking them to death. Attorney, given our government's commitment to ensuring integrity and encouraging public confidence in our government and its agencies, I ask you—through you, Mr Deputy Speaker Gillespie—to outline how the government is strengthening our current multifaceted approach to combating corruption and providing the funds necessary to enhance national integrity arrangements across the federal public sector.

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