Michelle Ananda-Rajah (Higgins, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Attorney-General. How has the Albanese Labor government's delivery of the National Anti-Corruption Commission helped improve integrity in government after a decade of inaction?

Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Higgins for her question, and I congratulate the 85,000 taxpayers in her electorate of Higgins who will benefit from the Albanese government's tax cuts.

At the last election, the Australian Labor Party listened. We listened to the Australian people, who told us that they wanted to restore truth, integrity, honesty and accountability to government. We promised we'd deliver a national anticorruption commission without delay, and we did.

It is one year since the establishment of the National Anti-Corruption Commission. The commission is tasked with detecting, investigating and preventing corruption across the Commonwealth public sector. We said it would have a broad jurisdiction, and it does. We said it would be able to receive referrals from anyone, and it can. We said it would have strong statutory oversight, and it does. We said it would have retrospective powers, and it does. We said it would have the power to hold public hearings to make findings of fact and operate with robust procedural fairness, and it does. And, most importantly, we said it would be independent of government, and it is. Only the commission can decide what it investigates. Designing the commission this way was a deliberate choice. It is the best way of ensuring the commission maintains its independence, and, of course, the independence of this commission is critical to its success.

In its first 12 months the commission has received 3,154 referrals. It's conducting 26 corruption investigations and overseeing or monitoring a further 21 investigations by other agencies. Those opposite, of course, also committed to establishing an integrity commission. The former Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, stood up with the former Attorney-General, Christian Porter, at the end of 2018, and promised a national anticorruption commission, and they broke their promise. You can't trust those on the other side to mean what they say, you can't trust those on the other side to deliver on what matters to Australians and you can't trust their priorities.

This side of the House is focused on what matters. Yesterday tax cuts were delivered for every Australian taxpayer. A $300 discount on energy bills was delivered for every Australian household. That's how you deliver cost-of-living relief, not by pushing up power prices with nuclear reactors. We have our priorities right, we listen to Australians and we deliver on our commitments.