Matt Thistlethwaite (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australians are an honest and hardworking people who value integrity and fairness in our people-to-people relations and in our trade and business dealings—indeed, even in our sporting relations with other nations. This is well reflected in our system of government, our judiciary and the organisations that we as a people have established to investigate, to try and to prosecute wrongdoing in this country. I include in that list of organisations the states' anti-corruption watchdogs. Australia has a lot to be proud of in fighting corruption as a nation. Many nations do not have the protections, legal system and stable democracy that Australia has. That is something for which we should all be grateful and thank those who have come before us for establishing this wonderful democracy that we call home, Australia.

In fighting corruption, Australia is a leading nation on the international stage. It punches well above its weight in ensuring that integrity is maintained worldwide when it comes to relations between governments, and business dealings and trade between nations. Australia is a key member of the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group and participated in the negotiation and development of the G20 anti-corruption plan. At the 2012 leaders summit, the mandate of the working group was extended another two years. We led Australia's participation in the working group and have been involved in a number of initiatives such as working with other nations in our region to improve international cooperation to combat corruption. This has included the development of the G20 guide on mutual legal assistance which provides a concise, step-by-step guide to mutual assistance requests.

Of course we are also involved in the United Nations Convention against Corruption. The UNCAC is the first binding global document that deals with corruption. States that are parties to the UNCAC are required to undergo a review of their implementation of key chapters every five years. Australia, as a party to that process, recently went through a review. In 2011-12, Australia's compliance with chapter 3, relating to criminalisation and law enforcement, and chapter 4, relating to international cooperation, was reviewed. The review involved the completion of a comprehensive self-assessment report, and country visits by experts from other nations, in this case Turkey and the United States, for discussion with Australian subject-matter experts. The review team has completed that review and the report is currently being prepared to go to the UNCAC.

Often when I talk to business people they say that Australia is an attractive place for investment. One of the principal reasons for that is that Australia is a stable democracy. People can have trust and confidence in the system of government that we run in this country and the organisations involved in the administration of justice that we have set up as a nation—far from other nations, such as Africa, the Middle East and the subcontinent, where some of those protections are not available in government relations.

This is reflected in the statutes and administrative bodies devoted to ensuring integrity in public decision making. They include the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity, which provides independent assurance to government about the integrity of the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and the Australian Crime Commission. We have the Australian Public Service Commissioner, who is entrusted with the role of ensuring the integrity of the Australian Public Service code of conduct. There are also, of course, as Senator Carr mentioned, those systems that we have set up including freedom of information, the role of the ombudsman and the estimates process which we undertake on a regular basis here in this place to ensure integrity in our system of government. (Time expired)