Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) whistleblowers play an important role in exposing wrongdoing, as evidenced by the heroic efforts of David McBride, Richard Boyle, Witness K, Bernard Collaery and Troy Stolz; and

(b) protections for whistleblowers in the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 and Corporations Act 2001 remain grossly inadequate; and

(2) calls on the Government to:

(a) urgently reform the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 and Corporations Act 2001 to ensure that protections for whistleblowers are strong, comprehensive and fit for purpose; and

(b) establish an empowered and well-resourced Whistleblower Protection Commissioner to facilitate the effective implementation and enforcement of whistleblower protections.

Whistleblowers are an essential part of our democracy because they reveal important information in the public interest, information otherwise concealed despite the fact that it is often to do with the most egregious incompetence or misconduct. For instance, Alan Kessing exposed lax security at Sydney Airport. Toni Hoffman spoke up about Dr Patel. Witness K and Bernard Collaery blew the whistle on the East Timor scandal. Troy Stolz told us ClubsNSW's dirty secrets. Right now Richard Boyle and David McBride are in the courts over their ATO and war crime revelations.

Today I bring to the parliament's attention another brave whistleblower, an executive from the Australian coal industry who has provided me with thousands of documents that prove Australian companies have been lying for years about the quality of our coal. That's important because the fraud is environmental vandalism and makes all the talk of net zero emissions by 2050 fiction. It could also be criminal, trashing corporate reputations as well as our national reputation.

In essence, coal companies operating in Australia are using fraudulent quality reports for their exports and paying bribes to representatives of their overseas customers to keep the whole scam secret. This has allowed them to claim for years that Australian coal is cleaner than it is in order to boost profits and to prevent rejection of shipments at their destination.

This shocking misconduct includes exports to Japan, South Korea, China and India, and it involves companies including TerraCom, Anglo American, Glencore, Peabody and the Macquarie Bank. The misconduct also includes the ALS company, which has already been forced to admit its fraudulent testing to the ASX when it conceded that 'approximately 45 to 50 per cent of the certificates of analysis were manually amended without justification.' Moreover, the other key coal testing company in Australia, SGS, also commits fraud at a similar rate. For example, in the draft results in this SGS coal test the moisture content is 16.7%. That is pretty damp, and it won't burn well. But here, in the final version of the SGS document, the exact same testing puts the moisture content at 15.9%, which is drier and burns much cleaner. That represents hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra profit from that relatively small shipment to Japan and ensured that it wouldn't be rejected on arrival.

The coal executive whistleblower also alleges that global accounting firms such as Ernst & Young are aware of all this and choose to ignore it because the coal companies are lucrative. As a result of all this, I call on the government to establish—at least—a parliamentary inquiry into the matter, one where the witnesses of this misconduct, including the whistleblower I'm in contact with, can safely present their testimonies and evidence, and where the industry can explain itself. To that end, I also reach out to my crossbench colleagues to support such an inquiry and call on the opposition to support the move as well.

I know that the easy political response from the government would be to say that these allegations need to be examined by the relevant regulatory and law enforcement agencies, just like what the previous government said about the casino industry as I rolled out the evidence against Crown year after year. But the scandalous fact is that this coal executive whistleblower's allegations have already been put to the Australian Federal Police; the New South Wales Police; the Australian Securities and Investments Commission; the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources; and even the former federal government. And so far no authority, not one, has been willing to act on this alleged criminal behaviour, despite the fact that select evidence has already been presented in Australian courts proving what this whistleblower says is true.

So this time, please, lets ditch the game plan and go straight to an inquiry so that the industry can be held accountable for its sins and so Australia can restore its reputation as an honest trading partner. And, most importantly, so we can learn just how dirty the world is and how much more urgent our response to climate change must be. And let's also start genuinely celebrating and supporting whistleblowers, starting with strengthening the Public Interest Disclosure Act and the Corporation Act, and establishing a whistleblower commission. On that final note, I seek leave to table the two coal quality reports I have referred to.

Leave granted.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

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

I second the motion. As COP27 packs up the conference halls and delegates return home, much is being made of our nation being welcomed back into the global climate action fold. But what the member for Clark has just revealed to us this morning is as serious as it is shocking. We must undertake an inquiry to get to the bottom of this, and I back him in asking this parliament to do so.

The member for Clark is a staunch supporter of whistleblowers. For decades he's been a safe harbour, offering advice and support for those speaking out. Or, like today, he's provided a megaphone when the truth needs the light. Of course, the member for Clark has similar experiences. Just days before Australia's entry into the war in Iraq in March 2003, he resigned from the Office of National Assessments and went public with his belief that Iraq did not pose a serious enough threat to justify a war. As the member for Clark has said, reflecting on the event:

Like most whistleblowers, I was very reluctant to speak out. But people not so much choose to be whistleblowers, instead more likely they find themselves facing a truth so shocking it can't be kept secret from the public.

Whistleblowers should not suffer because they tell the truth, but that's what we see time and time again. We have a system of inadequate protections which leave people exposed, victimised and prosecuted when they should be celebrated for their bravery.

Before parliament rises in nine days it's likely this country will have a National Anti-Corruption Commission, yet this achievement will be almost meaningless if we can't promise those who report corrupt conduct the strongest possible protections in exchange. Because it's the public servants, the officials and the employees who know what's really happening, and they are the single most important way in which wrongdoing is brought to light.

The NACC will have its own whistleblower scheme, yet relies on the existing Public Interest Disclosure Act protections—described as 'technical, obtuse and intractable' in 2019 by a Federal Court judge. I welcome the Attorney-General's commitment for priority reforms to this act to be in place before the NACC opens its doors in mid-2023. This includes the key recommendations of the 2016 Moss review. Yet, those recommendations are already six years old. The world has moved on. I'll be watching closely to make sure these reforms are not frozen in time.

On Wednesday morning, alongside Senator Pocock, I will launch a landmark report 'Protecting Australia's whistleblowers: the federal roadmap' from Griffith University, the Human Rights Law Centre and Transparency International Australia. This report lays out starkly how once Australia led the world in protecting our whistleblowers yet, through the last two decades, we've fallen way behind international best practice. The report will set out 12 key areas of reform. The most important of these is reflected in the motion today: the establishment of an empowered and well-resourced whistleblower protection commissioner to facilitate the effective implementation and enforcement of whistleblower protections.

This is an idea whose time has come, and the momentum keeps building. This was a key pillar of my 2020 proposal for an integrity commission. Next came the supportive comments of the joint select committee examining the NACC last month that 'the review of whistleblower laws should specifically consider the establishment of an independent Whistleblower Protection Commission', noting the significant evidence that the committee had heard supporting this step.

A dedicated, independent statutory body would ensure that whistleblowing laws work in practice. It would be a one-stop shop for practical advice, assistance and guidance for whistleblowers. It would conduct independent investigations into detrimental actions and enforce legal protections when internal procedures of other agencies fail. And it would assist other agencies to uphold their own internal processes, championing best practice. A whistleblower protection commissioner would bring profile and authority to this important function, just like Kate Jenkins, and Elizabeth Broderick before her, did as sex discrimination commissioners. They put it on the agenda and they shifted the conversation.

I would bet that, for every David McBride and Troy Stolz, there are hundreds of people who face sleepless nights because they've seen something wrong at work and don't know what to do about it. We owe it to them, to the taxpayers and to the public good to make the path clear. Let's close the loopholes, fix this system and give brave whistleblowers the protection they are entitled to. I commend the member for Clark for this very important motion.

David Smith (Bean, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I acknowledge the member for Clark for this important motion. I also acknowledge the member for Indi. They have had a joint commitment to greater accountability and transparency in public life, not just in this parliament but before. I also acknowledge the work of many across the Canberra community who have passionately advocated for reform in these areas.

I ran on a platform of integrity, transparency and rebuilding our Public Service. In my previous work, with Professionals Australia and the Australian Federal Police Association, I worked closely with whistleblowers and I am well aware of the problems and frustrations with existing frameworks. The Australian public rightfully want better from this government, and better whistleblower protection is part of our broader push to rebuild trust and integrity in government.

Whistleblowers play a critical role in exposing wrongdoing. An effective public sector whistleblowing framework is critical to support integrity and the rule of law, including the establishment of a powerful, transparent and independent National Anti-Corruption Commission. This week the House will again be debating the legislation to establish the commission, and it's worth restating that the commission will operate independently of government and will have broad jurisdiction to investigate serious or systemic corruption across the Commonwealth public sector, including corruption that occurred before its establishment. This includes power to investigate ministers, parliamentarians and their staff, statutory office holders and employees and contractors of government agencies. It will also include the power to investigate any person who seeks to corrupt a public official by engaging in conduct that could adversely affect the honest or impartial exercise of a public official's powers, functions or duties. The commission will have discretion to commence inquiries on its own or in response to referrals from anyone, including whistleblowers and members of the public.

We acknowledge that reforms to the Public Interest Disclosure Act are also long overdue, and action is essential to ensure whistleblowers are supported to come forward with disclosures of public sector wrongdoing and corruption. The Attorney-General will be undertaking significant and staged reforms to public sector whistleblowing that will commence this year. The staged approach to reform allows the government to deliver immediately on the commitment to whistleblowing reform, while also recognising that significant, longer-term reform to the scheme is required to elevate it to best practice.

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 is a critical part of the Commonwealth's integrity and anticorruption ecosystem. We agree that reforms are overdue. The act enables public officials to disclose suspected wrongdoing by another public official or by an Australian government agency. 'Suspected wrongdoing' is defined broadly and includes fraud, serious misconduct and corrupt conduct, as well as minor wrongdoing. Public officials who make such disclosures have protections and immunities from liability.

On Wednesday last week, the Attorney-General announced that the government will comprehensively reform the act, through a staged approach in the next 12 to 18 months, to ensure it effectively protects whistleblowers in reporting wrongdoing and corruption. These staged reforms will include the introduction of a bill to parliament, before the end of this year, to implement key recommendations of the 2016 review and other parliamentary committee reports; will include the progression of broader reforms next year to address the underlying complexity of the scheme; and will provide effective and accessible protections to public service whistleblowers.

As part of the second stage, the government will continue to closely examine what reforms may be required to ensure Australia has effective whistleblower frameworks. This approach allows the government to respond to calls from stakeholders about reforming the act alongside the National Anti-Corruption Commission, as well as giving due consideration to more significant reforms, including proposals to establish a whistleblower protection authority or commissioner.

Finally, as agreed by the previous parliament, in 2024 there will be a statutory review of the private sector whistleblowers scheme in the Corporations Act 2001. I'm determined to be part of a parliament that continues to do the work together to rebuild trust in government. I also commend this motion to the House.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to acknowledge all the previous speakers and the member for Clark. Whistleblowers have shown incredible courage and it's right that we put into place legislation that provides effective frameworks to protect them. As others have noted, whistleblowers play an incredibly important role in exposing wrongdoing and in doing so protect the very fabric of our democracy. They protect integrity and the rule of law, which members in this place like to talk about, but without an honest commitment to effective integrity infrastructure in our Commonwealth that rule of law is always under threat.

Australia's public interest disclosure law was introduced when we on this side were last in government in 2015. It was designed to protect whistleblowers against reprisals by senior officials and to promote integrity in the public service. The current Attorney-General was the Attorney-General at that time and introduced it. He was conscious that it was going to need to be looked at in the future to assess whether or not it was working in the national interest, and that's why he a wrote statutory review into act at that time. We recognised that a review was necessary to address some of the complexities of that law. But on us losing government in 2013 a statutory review never took place.

Under the Abbott government the act fell into neglect. Under the Morrison government, the Philip Moss review took place five years later. Protecting whistleblowers wasn't a big priority for those opposite. The coalition did agree in principle to 30 of that review's 33 recommendations, but 'in principle' being the operative words—many would remember that we saw high-profile raids on journalists, other cases of excessive secrecy and secret ministers under the former federal government, under those opposite. 'It was shameful that the government took some four years to respond to Philip Moss's report.' That's what the current Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus, said before the election, and he announced the following commitment in 2021: 'We intend, in government, to act on Philip Moss's recommendations for necessary improvements to the public interest disclosure scheme.' So fast-forward a year and that is exactly what our government is doing. We are committed to ensuring that Australia has more effective protection for whistleblowers. That's why the Attorney-General announced last week that he would introduce a bill into the parliament before the end of this year—so in this sitting block, however long that may be—which will make priority amendments to the Public Interest Disclosure Act.

This act is an important element of the Commonwealth's integrity and transparency framework. It enables public officials to disclose suspected wrongdoing by another public official or by an Australian government agency. 'Suspected wrongdoing' is defined broadly and includes fraud, serious misconduct and corrupt conduct as well as minor wrongdoing. Public officials who make such disclosures have protections and immunities from liability. Reforms to the PID Act are long overdue, and action is essential to ensure that whistleblowers are supported to come forward with disclosures of public sector wrongdoing and corruption. The government's staged reforms of the PID Act will include the introduction of a bill to parliament before the end of this year, as I just mentioned, and the progression of broader reforms next year to address the underlying complexity of the scheme and to provide effective and accessible protections to public sector whistleblowers.

These amendments deliver on the government's election commitment to implement key recommendations of the 2016 review of the Public Interest Disclosure Act by Philip Moss, and other parliamentary committee reports. Our government has committed to it, and we will get it done.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allocated for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.