Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I'm very proud to second this bill from the member for Clark today, who has been a champion for whistleblowers for the whole time that he has been in this place.

Whistleblowers are vital to a healthy democracy. They play a significant role in exposing serious wrongdoing by politicians, by government agencies and by corporations. And just in the last few years, whistleblowers have helped reveal the harmful and unlawful robodebt scheme, elder abuse in the aged-care sector and the PwC scandal, just to name a few. In the PwC case, confidential government information was used to help private clients avoid paying tax.

When whistleblowers make the hard decision—and it is a hard decision, a risky decision—to speak out about wrongdoing such as this, we, all of us, need to have their back. But right now Australia's whistleblower protection laws are broken. Brave people who speak up about war crimes or corruption are facing criminal charges and even prison. And as the member for Clark just noted, right now, on foot, is the case with Richard Boyle. Mr Boyle helped expose the Australian Taxation Office's unethical practices of seizing money directly from taxpayers accounts without regard for that person's circumstances, such as whether they are women escaping domestic violence or small business owners with serious health issues. It was just appalling. And for this decision, Mr Boyle is now facing prosecution and potentially jail.

The courts—this is the bit that is amazing—have accepted that 'Mr Boyle is a whistleblower as the term is commonly understood', and yet our whistleblower protection laws are so flimsy that he has no protection. This is why we so desperately need the promise fulfilled by this Albanese government to establish a whistleblower protection authority to help future people come forward. Right now there are everyday Australians out there potentially wanting to blow the whistle, and we need them to, but they take a grave risk in doing so.

A whistleblower protection authority will support and protect whistleblowers and potential whistleblowers by being that much needed one-step shop. Furthermore, as the member for Clark has said, a whistleblower protection authority would assist us in the prevention of corruption in the first place. We need it and we need it now.

We need comprehensive whistleblower protection reform. In 2019, Labor promised to establish a whistleblower protection authority. The clock has been ticking for three years. We're rapidly facing an election and it's nowhere to be seen. We need the crossbench to push on this.

Debate adjourned.

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