Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I second the motion. The member for Indi has come before this chamber promoting a national integrity commission. Let me say this on behalf of the Australian Labor Party: we support a national anticorruption commission. We support a national anticorruption commission with teeth, a national anticorruption commission with independence and a national anticorruption commission that can deal with some of the travesties in the use of public funds that we've seen by those opposite over the last eight years—in particular, over this term of parliament.

When we have the abuse of taxpayers' funds that we've seen through the sports rorts program and through the abuse of the commuter car park program, where we have car parks for commuters where there are no train stations, we have—

An opposition member: In the Treasurer's electorate!

In the Treasurer's electorate, which received four separate grants. What we have from this government, when they decide where public funds are going to be used, is that they get out a colour-coded sheet based upon the marginality of electorates. Then, when the Senate has the temerity to ask for access to those documents, they say they're cabinet-in-confidence.

This is a government that has established structures to avoid transparency and public accountability. They have a cabinet committee with a membership of one, the Prime Minister, who then co-opts people onto any meeting which he has so that it becomes so-called cabinet-in-confidence. Remember that this is a Prime Minister who put his former chief of staff, and now head of Prime Minister and Cabinet, in charge of inquiries, including into what his own office knew about a reported sexual assault just metres from his office. And then, of course, he says that they delayed that report for so long it can't be dealt with because the court case is already underway about that. All he had to do was ask his own staff what they knew—who knew what and when.

What we have from this government, when it comes to the use of public funds, is scandal after scandal. That's whether it be regional programs, whether it be sports rorts programs or whether it be the allocation of funds from the Urban Congestion Fund. It's a program of over $4 billion which is being allocated on the basis of political need, not on the basis of merit, which is why we do need a national integrity commission.

When the current Prime Minister knocked off Malcolm Turnbull—remember that; he wasn't ambitious for himself, he was ambitious for him! He wasn't ambitious to lead—well, that's the one thing he did get right, because we've seen no leadership from this Prime Minister. What we saw in terms of this government and their approach to these issues was that we do need a national integrity commission. In 2018—three years ago now—when he took office, the Prime Minister promised that we would have one. Three years later, he just hasn't got around to it. And it's no wonder, because of the stench that surrounds this government's commitments in the lead-up to the 2019 election. Quite frankly, they're on notice that the 21 separate slush funds that were allocated and set up in the budget this year will be the subject of integrity, having a good look at how those funds are allocated.

Taxpayers' funds are not the same as Liberal and National party funds. They shouldn't be using money from taxpayers for the interests of the Liberal and National parties. They even do, basically, polling with the same companies that do the polling for the Liberal and National parties. What we've seen from the member for Indi—and perhaps I don't agree with her exact model—is what we do need: a body of substance. What we do need is for this Prime Minister to be kept to his commitments. That's why we need some transparency and accountability.

Quite frankly, I sat in this chamber during the Howard government and, by and large, I disagreed with what ministers did, but there wasn't scandal after scandal in the way that this government operates. There weren't ministers being able just to keep going— (Time expired)

See this speech in context