Zed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Treasury and Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Patrick, we hope that the pestering doesn't become stalking, but let's see how we go. The government won't be supporting Senator Whish-Wilson's amendment. It would require a review to be undertaken two years after the bill receives royal assent. This in our opinion is too short a period to judge the effectiveness of the amendments. The amendments do not commence on royal assent but up to six months later, meaning the effective review period may be as little as 18 months. The amendments requiring some companies to implement whistleblower policies may have only applied for as little as 12 months. The policy requirement for public companies, large proprietary companies and registrable superannuation entities to have a whistleblower policy may not even apply when the review needs to start.

The government has already tabled amendments, which passed, to introduce the review of the new whistleblower laws to be undertaken five years after the commencement of the bill. This implements the recommendation of the Senate Economics Committee report. A five-year period was chosen to allow time for proper consideration of the effectiveness of the new regime. The time frame suggested in the Greens amendment would not allow for this. The PJC inquiry recommended a rewards system. The government is considering those recommendations and will respond in due course. It is duplicative, even unnecessary, to require another review that must consider the introduction of a rewards system in addition to the existing consideration that the government is giving to the PJC recommendations.