Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

The Morrison-Joyce government hate accountability, and that's why they've broken their three-year-old promise to introduce a national anticorruption commission. We know from the cabinet leak last week that the Prime Minister only became interested in the integrity commission when he thought he could bundle it up to help pass the Religious Discrimination Bill. This government has no shame. They announced plans for this commission over 1,000 days ago, and it is sorely needed. A recent analysis of grants over three years by Nine media revealed that coalition-held seats received a massive $1.9 billion compared to $500 million for Labor electorates. In my Hunter region, all four Labor electorates combined received less than half what the Deputy Prime Minister's seat of New England received by itself—$48 million for New England compared to $800,000 for the electorate of Shortland, which I have the privilege to represent. What a disgrace!

Public trust in politics is at an all-time low. In our age of social media, fake news and an environment where far-Right extremists are attempting to dominate the civic space, we elected officials have an important role in restoring this trust. The creation of an anticorruption commission would help with this task. Integrity in public life matters. Fighting corruption matters. Misusing public funds for political gains matters. This is why the Australian people are demanding an independent national anticorruption commission. An Albanese Labor government will deliver one; this corrupt Liberal government will not.

See this speech in context