Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I may be mistaken, but I understand Mr Obeid left prison relatively recently. But let me go to the question about the Integrity Commission. Just on 2 November the government released an exposure draft of the legislation to establish the Commonwealth Integrity Commission. That is released for extensive public consultation. That draft legislation is the result of very detailed planning to ensure that this new body has both the resources and the powers it needs to investigate allegations of criminal corrupt conduct that could occur across the public sector.

I want to reinforce the government's commitment to a national comprehensive consultation process on the draft legislation. I understand that a series of consultation sessions are being arranged for the law enforcement and public sector groups that would be regulated under the legislation, as well as roundtable meetings with civil society representatives, academia and other stakeholder representatives from all states and territories. Those sessions will be held across a consultation period that will run from November this year to March 2021. This indicates the government's commitment to a body, as I said, that has both the resources and the powers it needs to investigate those allegations of criminal corrupt conduct that could occur across the public sector.

We believe that our commission, which is properly designed, having gone through a robust consultation phase, will do the task that it's required to at the Commonwealth level. It will have greater investigatory powers than a royal commission, including the ability to hold hearings and to compel witnesses to testify. It will be the lead body in Australia's multiagency anticorruption framework and will include a public sector integrity division and a law enforcement integrity division.