Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Parliamentary Business Resources Bill 2017 and Parliamentary Business Resources (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2017 before us. I do not intend to take too much of the House's time. We will be supporting these bills. We will be supporting these bills for a very simple reason, and that is that we support any reasonable steps to ensure that the work expenses of people in this building are consistent with what the community expects of us. I think we on all sides of the House appreciate that Australians do not particularly have a lot of faith in the political system as it stands. I will not go into all the reasons for that, but it is true. I think that the Australian people do have a right to expect us to be held to the highest possible standards, and this bill does go some of the way towards that effort.

It is up to us in this place to help strengthen our system to improve, where we can, transparency and accountability as they relate to the work expenses of politicians, because, when we do fail to live up to the expectations the people rightly have of us, we allow fringe groups and others to grow and spread fear and hate throughout our communities. That is the blunt reality of the cost and consequences of people losing faith in our political system.

Some context for this bill: it was under the member for Warringah when the former member for Mackellar used a helicopter on taxpayer funds to go to a fundraiser. The member for Warringah, the former Prime Minister, ordered an independent review into parliamentary expenses. The new Prime Minister, the member for Wentworth, received the recommendations of that review on 22 February 2016, more than a year ago. Unfortunately, for more than a year there was no action. There was no reform. There were no changes to respond to those recommendations.

On this side of the House we will be offering support for these bills, but it is worth noting that we have always been committed to reforming these work expenses, these parliamentary resources. We have offered to the government every bit of assistance at every stage in passing their legislation and implementing these types of reforms.

We supported, as honourable members would recall, the establishment of the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority. Quite recently, we progressed the legislation through the House and through the Senate without delay. It was only through the support of the Labor Party that these reforms were implemented in such a timely fashion. Honourable members will recall that was Senator Macdonald from the coalition who tried to delay those reforms by trying to protect his own entitlements and expenses. That was what caused the little delay that we saw. But from our point of view, from outside of the parliament, we did what we could to make sure that those changes passed in a timely way and that is what we will do again. We will ensure the speedy passage of this legislation to restore public faith in the democratic political systems or at least take some steps towards restoring that faith in the system. In that context, we are happy to support these bills through this House and through the other place as well.

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Nick Xenophon Team) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017. I welcome the measures included in this bill. The Nick Xenophon team has campaigned on the issue of transparency since the day it began as a party and it is certainly something that Senator Nick Xenophon has campaigned on for many years. Transparency is one of our three core principles and one that is raised with me constantly by our community. This bill seeks to provide better transparency regarding parliamentarians' entitlements and for that it has my support.

It is clear that the public has completely lost trust in politicians and with that lost trust comes a lack of respect. We have all heard from the previous government the rhetoric that the age of entitlement is over. But ordinary Australians do not understand how a government or indeed a parliament should be taken seriously when it makes statements such as those and then allows its elected members to hire helicopters to party fundraisers, to have their debts paid by foreign entities. They look at their own lives and the rules that they operate under and stare incredulously at the television screens when elected leaders lecture them for being too entitled and then use taxpayer funds in that manner. This bill begins to address these issues and it is not a moment too soon.

Australians' perceptions of politicians are at an all-time low and we are responsible for that. Constant issues that may have been within the rules by definition but do not pass the logic test—the 'pub test' as we all refer to it—have eroded the respect held for us as elected members. Unfortunately, I must remind members here today that this is an issue that has been raised before. Senator Nick Xenophon, the leader of the Nick Xenophon Team, introduced a bill in 2015 which called for an independent watchdog to administer entitlements claims, more frequent reporting procedures and the right of the public to make a complaint to the watchdog. Surprisingly, the major parties did not support this bill—not Labor, not Liberal, not the nationals—because they did not believe it was necessary. It took yet another scandal and of course another scandal and more public outrage for them to come around to the idea.

The independent watchdog known as the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority has recently been established and is yet another example of the government taking Nick Xenophon Team policies and adopting them as their own. This bill is a step in the right direction but it should have been done long before now. We must all remember that we are here to serve the public of Australia and there is no doubt that we should be afforded the resources necessary to perform that duty. I support the clearer definition of 'parliamentary business' that exists in this bill. This definition leaves no excuse to any parliamentarian who breaches the rules in the future. I support the dominant person test included in this bill. As part of our accountability to Australians, we must ensure that every time we claim an expense or a resource, it is for the purpose of serving the taxpayer. As my Nick Xenophon Team colleague Senator Nick Xenophon said, in the past, it should not be a case of a MP claiming a travel expense for a short meeting over coffee and then enjoying the sun or indeed buying a house.

The provisions in this bill require members to use public resources in a way which achieves value-for-money and that is very welcome. Really, this is a commonsense measure and it is a shame that it has to be enshrined in legislation. I would like to see more of us take responsibility for any unnecessary expenses. Would it really hurt us if we were all sitting in economy seats for flights shorter than two hours? It would save millions if we took economy seats when we were flying for less than two hours. Can you imagine if we put that money into a supplementary bucket for regional communities to assist with small-town projects? Fifty-thousand-dollar one-off funding grants for small towns would make a world of difference to those communities, and we could do that. We could help so many towns if we just elected to be a little bit more frugal.

When I came to the parliament when I became a member, the records of parliamentarians' expenditures were only published every six months. This time lapse is so long that, even though I have been in office since last July, I do not believe my expenditure for the first six months has yet been made available to the public, so I strongly welcome the new monthly reporting regime that will come into effect now that the independent parliamentary expenses bill will pass the parliament.

I also believe that the penalties included in the bill for a breach of entitlements rules are not harsh enough. Essentially, a parliamentarian can breach the rules and, once that breach has been identified, they have 28 days to pay back the money. If, for reasons beyond comprehension, they refuse to pay back the money owed within 28 days, there is a 25 per cent loading on their repayment. It is my belief that this is too low and is not a strong enough disincentive to ensure that the rules and procedures are followed. I will be moving amendments that will not only significantly increase the penalty loading for the breaches of rules but also penalise repeat offenders. I do this for all of us because this will show greater integrity in our parliament and restore integrity to us from our fellow Australians.

I support the measures in this bill. I believe that, as the elected representatives, we must remain vigilant to ensure that we do not erode public confidence in our office. I believe that we must continue to strive to use the resources provided by the public for us in the most efficient way possible. And, most importantly, I believe those of us who breach our responsibility to the public should receive significant penalties in order to deter further indiscretions. This bill is one small step in regaining the trust of the Australian public and could not happen a moment too soon. Thank you.

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Cyber Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker Irons, and can I say how pleasing it is to see you in the chair. I look forward to seeing you on Sunday—or Saturday, I think it is.

I would like to thank all members who have contributed to the debate on the Parliamentary Business Resources Bill 2017 and the Parliamentary Business Resources (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2017. Following the recent passage of the bills to establish the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority—the IPEA—the Parliamentary Business Resources Bill represents the next step in the biggest reforms to the management of parliamentarians' expenses in more than a generation. These bills will implement a key recommendation of the Tune-Conde review into the parliamentary entitlements system by streamlining the legislative and administrative framework for parliamentarians' work expenses. It is the new foundation on which we will build the instruments that prescribe all future parliamentary work expenses.

The current parliamentary expenses framework is complex. It is time for a simpler, more transparent framework that governs our access to taxpayers' money for parliamentary work expenses. New rules and obligations will be placed on us to ensure that we spend taxpayers' money—public resources—carefully and responsibly and only for purposes that relate to our duties as elected representatives. Parliamentarians will only be able to claim expenses for the dominant purpose of conducting parliamentary business. The bills will also require us to ensure that the expenses that we incur represent value for money and that public money is used efficiently, effectively and economically.

Under this new framework, parliamentarians will be personally accountable and responsible for ensuring that they use public resources efficiently, effectively and economically. They must also be prepared to justify publicly their use of taxpayers' money. Parliamentarians that incur expenses outside the new rules and obligations will be personally financially liable for the cost of the expense, and may be subject to additional financial penalties. The penalty loading scheme will impose a 25 per cent penalty loading on top of the cost of any expense that is not repaid to the Commonwealth within 28 days from the date the claim is made.

These bills will also provide IPEA with the power to make written rulings relating to travel expenses and allowances. In making rulings, IPEA will be able to consider whether a travel expense or allowance incurred represents value for money and meets the dominant purpose requirements.

As parliamentarians, we have a duty to ensure that our spending of taxpayers' money meets the public's expectations. Following the establishment of IPEA, these bills are the next step in a robust response to the obvious shortcomings of the old entitlements based system. It will provide greater clarity to parliamentarians in their use of taxpayers' money, while further increasing transparency and accountability.

The Parliamentary Business Resources (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2017 deals with minor consequential and transitional matters arising from the implementation of the new parliamentary work expenses framework, as set out in the Parliamentary Business Resources Bill 2017. This bill repeals redundant acts under the old work expenses framework and redundant provisions in acts, and makes arrangements for the smooth transition to the new work expenses framework. This supports the recommendations of the Tune-Conde review as far as they relate to consolidating the legislation in the old parliamentary work expenses framework under one single legislative head of authority.

Once again, I thank all members for their contributions and I commend these bills to the House.

Bill read a second time.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have received a message from His Excellency the Governor General, recommending in accordance with section 56 of the Constitution an appropriation for the purpose of this bill.