Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to move the following motion:

(1) the private members' business order of the day relating to the Australian Federal Integrity Commission Bill 2021 standing in the name of the member for Indi being called on immediately and passage of the bill through all stages taking priority over all other business during periods of government business until its completion.

(2) a maximum of 2 hours being allocated for the second reading stage with a maximum of 10 minutes per Member speaking.

(3) if consideration of the bill has not been completed by 1 pm, any questions necessary to complete the House's consideration of the bill being put to the House immediately and without debate.

Leave not granted.

I move:

That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent:

(1) the private Members' business order of the day relating to the Australian Federal Integrity Commission Bill 2021 standing in the name of the Member for Indi being called on immediately and passage of the bill through all stages taking priority over all other business during periods of government business until its completion;

(2) a maximum of 2 hours being allocated for the second reading stage with a maximum of 10 minutes per Member speaking; and

(3) if consideration of the bill has not been completed by 1 pm, any questions necessary to complete the House's consideration of the bill being put to the House immediately and without debate.

We have waited too long for an integrity commission. I have watched scandal after scandal going uninvestigated with no independent watchdog on the beat. Each day that we delay is another day of deterioration of trust in this place and among the Australian people. Each day it becomes harder to claw back that trust. There are only four sitting days left this year. We may not be back again. This might be our very last chance.

If someone were serious about an integrity commission they would write a bill to set it up, they would table it and they would bring it on for debate. That's what I have done. The government has acted very differently, an endless merry-go-round of consultations, shutting down debate in the House and shutting down debate in the Senate. It's clear the government is ignoring the will of the people, and now it's obstructing the will of the parliament. It's broken the promise it made almost three long years ago. We are entitled to ask whether the Prime Minister honestly, in his heart, actually wants a robust federal integrity commission.

For almost two years now I've worked with members of the House and Senate to shape my integrity commission bill. I've also had very constructive discussions with countless other members in both houses. As an independent, my office door has been an open door. My bill is a true work of collaboration. It's a consensus approach with public hearings when in the public interest. It's retrospective and it allows for public referrals. Importantly, so importantly, it also protects against vexatious claims and allows for true exoneration. This bill is gold standard. But these are not my words; they are the words of the finest legal minds in the nation, from former justices of the High Court to leading academics, jurists and ethicists. They all support the passage of this bill right now. This is a bill of the people, from the people, to hold all of us to account, to help us to be our best selves. This is the integrity commission that our country deserves.

I call on all members of parliament, wherever you sit, who believe this government has got its priorities wrong to support this motion today. I beseech you: do not remain silent. This is not about political pointscoring. This is not about partisan politics. This is about each and every one of us staying true to the people we represent. This is about each and every one of us doing the right thing on all sides of this House.

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