Andrew Charlton (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to support the Ministers of State Amendment Bill 2022. Last year's federal election was nothing short of a wake-up call for Australia's elected representatives—the largest crossbench in history, an all-time low in our faith in democracy and the political whiplash from a generation of Australians who grew up in a decade of dishonesty in our parliament. I'm a firm believer in our Australian democracy and a firm believer that this House is capable of generational change for the better. I believe that change for a better future can start here and that change for the better starts with us.

I've spoken before about the dangerous state of our democracy—the crisis of confidence that we are in, a generation of the disillusioned, a seismic structural shift in Australian politics. Since I last spoke on this, the 2022 Australian Election Study has been released. After every election, the Australian National University's Australian Election Study collects data from thousands of voters right across Australia, and it's been doing that since 1987. It looks at long-term trends across years and decades and lifts the lid on deep, long-running issues that aren't reflected in fortnightly polling.

Until 2019, its findings on public faith in our democracy were not only disappointing but distressing. Satisfaction with Australian democracy was on a precipitous decline. In 2007, 86 per cent of Australians said they were satisfied with our democracy. In 2010, that fell to 72 per cent. In 2016, it fell again, to 60 per cent. In 2019, it fell again, to 59 per cent. By that point, more than a third of Australians were not satisfied with our democracy. The study also asked if people in government can be trusted. Again, the statistics show a strong decline. In 2007, 43 per cent of Australians said that politicians could be trusted. By 2010, it had fallen to 37 per cent. At the next election, it was 34 per cent. Then it was 26 per cent, and, in 2019, it was 25 per cent. Only 25 per cent of Australians said their politicians could be trusted. Three in four people didn't think their politicians could be trusted.

In May last year we had the first signs of a change to these statistics. With the release of the 2022 study, these trends began to change for the first time since 2007. Satisfaction with our democracy rose from a dangerously low 59 per cent to 70 per cent between 2019 and 2022. Mistrust in government actually went down, not up, for the first time. In 2022, the percentage of respondents who felt that the people in government only look after themselves dropped from an all-time high of 75 per cent in 2019 to 70 per cent in 2022. It's not a big drop, but it is moving in the right direction.

Clearly we have a long way to go before faith in our democracy is restored, but this is the first time in a long time that faith in our democracy has begun to rise. Support for reforms to strengthen our democracy is partly behind this reversal. The 2022 Australian Election Study also reported that 92 per cent of respondents either strongly supported or supported a national anticorruption body. Last year, we delivered on this very promise. This is just a first step on a long pathway towards restoring long-term faith in our democracy. We need to make sure this parliament is transparent, accountable and reliable. That is our responsibility. That is our mandate. That is our job. And that is exactly what this bill brings to the table.

Fighting for our democracy takes not just the courage to speak out but the courage to act. Since taking government, the Albanese government has done just that. In eight months, we have established the National Anti-Corruption Commission, we have pushed for more representation for our First Nations people with a Voice to Parliament and now we are legislating safeguards against the undermining of the principles of responsible government that took place during the Morrison government.

The amendments put forward today are the result of an independent inquiry into the conduct of the member for Cook during his time as Prime Minister. Between March 2020 and May 2021, as the country grappled with an ongoing public health crisis, the member for Cook appointed himself to no fewer than five additional portfolios. He became the minister for health; he became the minister for finance; he became the minister for industry, science, energy and resources; he became the Treasurer; and he became the minister for home affairs. An independent inquiry led by former High Court Justice the Hon. Virginia Bell AC found that the fundamental principles of responsible government had been undermined by these actions.

I reject the accusation that this was all the result of a political witch-hunt. Frankly, I find it concerning that the opposition would continue to undermine independent, responsible procedures of government by labelling the Bell inquiry 'a political witch-hunt'. Let's get the facts clear. This was an independent inquiry. It was not about the politics; it was about why this happened, how this happened and how we can prevent it from happening again in the future.

I commend the Albanese Labor government on taking the inquiry's recommendations forward. The Ministers of State Amendment Bill 2022 forms one part of the government's response to Ms Bell's recommendations. Specifically, this bill puts an end to secret ministries and to the practice of dishonesty. It marks the start of a new era and a new approach to government—one defined by transparency, accountability and a commitment to democracy.

In sum, this bill demonstrates that the government is delivering on its promise to restore the Australian people's confidence in our federal system of government and to rebuild integrity in public sector institutions, processes and officials. This bill will implement reforms to provide for greater transparency and accountability in Commonwealth administration. The purpose of this bill is to implement the first of the six recommendations from the Bell inquiry, and it follows the steps the government has already taken to establish a powerful, transparent and independent National Anti-Corruption Commission. This government is committed to restoring faith in our democracy, to bring back integrity and accountability. Australians deserve to know who those appointed to be their ministers are, who their executive are and what offices they hold. Our democracy is precious, and it's our responsibility to protect it.

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