House debates

Tuesday, 1 August 2023

Bills

Public Service Amendment Bill 2023; Consideration in Detail

5:30 pm

Photo of Sophie ScampsSophie Scamps (Mackellar, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I just wanted to reiterate: thank you very much to the government for consulting with us on this. Integrity is a major issue for many of us on the crossbench. It was one of the most important issues at the last election. We thank the government for their moves on this. Yes, we do have a National Anti-Corruption Commission, yet it is only a first step. It investigates corruption after it has happened. What we are calling for is greater integrity to be built into all the different aspects of our political system and our democracy.

Unfortunately, the inquiry into board appointments does not go nearly far enough. What we're calling for is an independent selection process that is open, transparent and everyone can understand and have trust in for these most important Commonwealth appointments. The Public Service Commissioner is one of those vitally important appointments that is absolutely crucial to the integrity of our political system, so we would urge the government to look further into these, to look at how we can make these appointment processes far more independent and transparent. Thank you.

Question negatived.

Bill agreed to.

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