Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank all members again for their engagement, not just the engagement on this proposed amendment but the engagement in the preparation of this bill. I think it is important that people watching or reading this debate know that, while there has been a parliamentary debate over the last few days, the work that has been done here is the result of a lot of consultation across this building for a number of months. As I have in every speech I have given on this, I have always wanted to note not only the work done by parliamentarians but equally the work done by staff and people who have given so much evidence in the Set the Standard report and continued to assist us in putting together this legislation. Because the reality is we can all come in here and say our piece and have it on the record under the cover of parliamentary privilege. That is not something that is available to the people who work for members in this building. They have made a huge contribution but they do not get to make a contribution at the final stage. I want to say thanks again to all who have engaged in that consultation.

I want to pick up on a point from the member for Indi, which is that I do want to say again, to anyone watching this debate or reading it in the future, that this bill is about encouraging people to make that choice, to stand for election or to be a parliamentary staff member or to join the Public Service. The reason we are doing this is not just to lift the standard for ourselves here and now but, as we all know, we are doing this to ensure that everyone who wants to make a contribution to this place has that opportunity and is not held back by some of the very inappropriate behaviours and practices that have been outlined in the Set the Standard report.

Again, it is a great honour to be able to stand for election in the Australian democracy. It is an even greater honour to be chosen to represent a community in this place. I would encourage anyone who watches this as we work to do exactly that—set the standard and lift the standard. We are working hard to ensure that this is a workplace that welcomes people's contributions and enables people to make those contributions.

I do want to note that the proposals in front of us from the government that we have consulted widely across the government on do indeed have substantial change. We are talking about the ability of this parliament, through the privileges committee and elsewhere, to impose substantial sanctions on members of parliament where there has been serious misconduct. Equally, we have substantial penalties in the form of an ability to fine a member a percentage of their remuneration—again, something that has not been done before. This is a big step and it is one I am proud our government is taking.

I also want to address what the member for Clark said. I agree with him. The government does believe in the bill that is in front of us. He now serves on the privileges committee. I have previously served on the privileges committee. I was very fortunate and honoured to be the deputy chair of that committee for a period of time. I agree it is multipartisan. It does operate in a collegiate manner. It not only treats the items that come to it with respect but equally the people who might be being considered. I commend all members of the privileges committee for showing how you can in this place, which is a place where we have a contest of ideas, have committees that do work in a way that is actually about upholding the standards of parliament and indeed upholding the rights of parliamentarians, and the privileges committee has a very important role there too.

I agree with the member for North Sydney: this parliament does have an obligation to act. That is what we have sought to do. We have not only sought to do that in the timeframes we have outlined for a number of years but also in a way that ensures we get the appropriate consultation, because the worst thing that could possibly happen would be that a bill such as this gets stalled in the parliament without actually taking action. That would break the trust of those who have very high expectations appropriately from the Set the Standard report.

Just briefly to the amendments: the government's view is that these amendments are not necessary. We prefer not to limit the discretion of a privileges committee in deciding the appropriate sanction. We think that in order to make referral to the privileges committee, the decision panel—three members when it comes to a parliamentarian—needs to be satisfied that the relevant conduct is serious and it is appropriate for a parliamentary sanction to be imposed. There is accountability in the process of the bill as it currently stands, and, obviously, I think it's also worth noting to all members that, under the bill that is proposed without these amendments, the recommendations of the privileges committee will become public when that report is tabled in the House.

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