Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Brown. Obviously, it's going to be a very good submission to the consultation process, because Senator Farrell is going to have Senator Brown helping him draft it and contribute.

The government, as indeed Senator Payne has outlined in question time already and I have outlined in question time already, has published the draft legislation and opened up the consultation process, and the first stage there is underway. The Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity will be given jurisdiction over four new agencies from 1 January 2021. So, whilst we are going through that process of consultation about the legislation for the Commonwealth Integrity Commission, we also will ensure that the ATO, ASIC, APRA and the ACCC have that oversight of the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity as well. In the 2020-21 budget we provided $9.9 million to the commission and an additional 38 ASL to help them expand their jurisdiction over these agencies. In terms of budgeting, the Commonwealth Integrity Commission has had more than $106 million of new funding allocated to it over the forward estimates from 2019-20, which is in addition to the funding being provided for the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity.

In contrast to the fact that Labor has come out with design principles, we have come out with draft legislation, a detailed proposal in terms of how this will apply, how it will work and how it builds on the existing accountability and integrity measures that are in place. We want to make sure that we don't go and duplicate, we don't reinvent, but we do establish the type of structure that ensures we get the most out of the existing mechanisms and address any other absences or gaps that may exist.