Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

We've got all these interjections. Senator Collins is not interested in an answer. We know that Mr Shorten announced a headline about a year ago saying that that was based on 12 months of consultation, but we haven't actually seen a single draft bill. We haven't seen any detail to deal with some of the complex issues that have to be dealt with in this context. We know, of course, the legislation that has been put forward by the crossbench, and, to their credit, at least they have gone to the effort of putting forward a bill, but there are a whole range of issues, complexities and problems with that, so we are currently considering the best way forward.

Any change actually has to improve current arrangements. Every change actually has to make things better. Just making change for the sake of change is not the right way forward. I might also just say that Australia, under governments of both political persuasions, internationally has a very good track record when it comes to the fighting and the prevention of corruption. Australia has got a very good track record, by international standards, and we will continue to ensure that whatever reforms are pursued make the current arrangements better and more effective rather than cause a whole range of undesirable problems.