Michelle Ananda-Rajah (Higgins, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in continuation to speak on the Ministers of State Amendment Bill 2022. In mid-December last year the Albanese government abolished the AAT and set up a process to find a better model, led by an eminent judge, with merit-based transparent selection at its core. We are appointing 75 members to clear the current backlog, and have committed nearly $12 million towards better case management so that the veteran who served his country is compensated for that service injury, the elder Australian gets their age pension and, like my constituent, the NDIS participant receives funding for essential support so they can live with dignity.

In bringing back integrity, we must apply a higher standard of scrutiny not only to people but also to policy. Community legal centres are a vital organ of our justice system, with deep knowledge of the strengths and failings of our legal system. When it comes to injustice and hardship among ordinary Australians, they are at the front line. In my community, the Eastern Community Legal Centre provides vital support to the wellbeing and resilience of some of my community's most vulnerable people. They know better than anyone where reform is required. Yet it was the Abbott government that barred these beneficiaries of government funding from having any say in the law reform of this country. The self-styled party of free speech effectively gagged our country's best legal aid providers from expressing their views in an area that they are uniquely qualified to speak on.

The Attorney-General is ending this blatant censorship, working with attorneys-general across the country to restore the independence and free speech of community legal centres. Community legal centres should be able to advocate for better, not gagged just because they receive Commonwealth funding. The multiple-ministries scandal did not happen by chance; it was the remnant of a marching corruption that infected these corridors of power, kicking transparency, accountability and integrity to the kerb. It is clear that the work of defending democracy is never done. Inoculating the system against corruption will take our constant vigilance and care.

On the topic of integrity, I'll segue into its importance in us moving to a low-emissions economy. Climate, as you know, was a key platform that we were elected on. We were brought in to end the climate wars and to pivot Australia from being a climate pariah and a climate denier to a climate doer. At the heart of this is integrity. We must be confident—and the Australian people must be confident—that we are actually achieving the goals that we said we would. With the passage of the Climate Change Act—the second piece of legislation—we introduced monitoring by the Climate Change Authority so that it will now report to government every year on Australia's progress towards net zero. This is a really important integrity mechanism to ensure that business, the Australian people and the parliament understand that we are doing what we're saying. We're removing that cloak of mystique and opaqueness that was over this entire industry previously.

The second thing that is really important on the topic of integrity is our safeguard mechanism. There's a lot of debate in the House this week on the safeguard mechanism, and it's really important that we ensure we keep integrity at the core and have transparent reporting around our targets and our achievables with respect to the safeguard. It's also important that we get that legislation passed, and I hope those opposite will support it.

Debate adjourned.

See this speech in context