Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Pearce for her question. Today is an important day, not just for this government but for this parliament and for the nation. Today we introduced to this House the first government bill to establish a National Anti-Corruption Commission. The National Anti-Corruption Commission Bill delivers on a key election commitment, first made prior to the 2019 election, to establish a powerful and independent anticorruption body at the federal level—a watchdog with teeth. It is a commitment we have never wavered from, and today we have delivered. The former government, having made their own pledge to introduce a federal anticorruption body in December 2018, never even got to the stage of introducing a bill. The Commonwealth is the last jurisdiction in this country not to have an anticorruption commission. It is past time for this to be fixed, and I'm proud the Albanese Labor government will be doing the job.

Today's bill is the product of an extraordinary amount of work. It has been shaped by constructive consultation with experts and with members of both Houses. It aims to learn the lessons from existing anticorruption commissions across the nation, balancing the need for transparency with the need to prevent undue damage to reputation. The ultimate aim of this body, once established, is to both prevent and expose corruption at the federal level. The Australian people sent a clear message at the last election that this is what they want. It is now incumbent on this parliament to deliver.

Shortly after introducing the bill this morning, I moved a resolution to establish a select committee of both houses to scrutinise this bill. We welcome that scrutiny and the dialogue which will flow from it, reflecting our genuine desire for this bill to have support across this parliament.

There can be no more important task of those elected to this place than maintaining the trust placed in us by the Australian people and keeping our democracy strong. Today's bill is an important part of that task, and I look forward to the support of members across this chamber.

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