Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This is a comprehensive reform package of bills which establishes a new federal administrative review body. The Albanese Labor government committed to cleaning up what was frankly, despite the previous speaker's attestations to the AAT's operations, a mess left by the previous Liberal government. We have set about, in this package of reforms, modernising and streamlining our administrative review processes. This broad legislative initiative underscores the Labor government's commitment to ensuring fairness, transparency and accountability in governmental decision-making. By establishing the Administrative Review Tribunal and enacting consequential provisions, we pave the way for a more responsive and accessible administrative justice system, benefiting citizens and government alike.

The Administrative Review Tribunal Bill 2023, the Administrative Review Tribunal (Consequential and Transitional Provisions No. 1) Bill 2023 and the Administrative Review Tribunal (Consequential and Transitional Provisions No. 2) Bill 2024 complete this package that implements the government's commitment to establish the new ART. It replaces the current AAT, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. We've heard a few comments about the operations of the AAT in the past. I've got to say: not only is this government about trying to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the administrative review processes that have been conducted; it is also about cleaning up what was, frankly, not working. In a sense, these bills importantly serve a crucial role in our legislative framework by repealing the outdated Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 and facilitating a seamless transition of operations, caseload and staff to the newly established tribunal. The bills implement, among other things, a better and improved standardised hearing mechanism, institute a guidance and appeals panel within the tribunal, foster a more flexible structure and, importantly, clarify and make transparent the procedures around appointing tribunal members.

The reason for such sweeping reform is simply the incompetence, mismanagement and negligence of the previous Liberal government, which requires a Labor government to clean up the mess. The system of administrative review has been beset—these are the facts—with issues because of the failure of the previous government. Let's go into those failures that need cleaning up: the lack of a fair and transparent process for appointing skilled members; a growing number of cases waiting for resolution, aggravated by insufficient funding and cuts to resources; challenges with coordination and teamwork due to the ongoing merger of tribunals; inefficiencies caused by outdated and failing computer systems nearing the end of their useful life; and a culture, frankly, of jobs for the boys and girls, with handpicked appointments by the Liberals as favours for their mates when these mates were thoroughly unqualified to sit on the tribunal.

Of these failures, I think the most egregious failure of the previous government lies in the politicisation of these AAT appointments. The former government's penchant for political appointments, including of individuals who had no relevant expertise to be a member of the tribunal, has undermined the credibility of the AAT and raised serious questions about the integrity of its decisions. When those opposite were in government, they appointed as many as 85 former Liberal MPs, failed Liberal candidates, former Liberal staffers and other close Liberal associates without any merit based selection process—including some individuals with no relevant experience or expertise at all—fatally compromising the system. They should be ashamed of themselves, and ashamed of bringing the country's Administrative Appeals Tribunal into such disrepute. This failure and mismanagement—

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