Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The Greens will of course support this suspension of standing orders. We've been trying to get a corruption watchdog federally for 13 years now. We don't care whose name is on the bill; we just want this done. It's no surprise that this government once again wants to shut down debate on setting up an effective corruption watchdog, because half of their cabinet have been implicated in integrity scandals—half! It has been 1,154 days since the Prime Minister made a promise that he would introduce an integrity commission. It was long overdue even then, but it was a welcome commitment.

Since that time we've seen a draft outline that was rubbished by every expert who reviewed it. Nearly 18 months after that there was a much-maligned draft bill that failed to address any of the earlier criticisms by experts. There was some more obfuscation in there. We then had multiple estimates hearings where we were told that more consultation was happening and amendments were being drafted. But then the Prime Minister said there'd be no changes from the earlier draft and that if Labor and the crossbench wanted an integrity commission then we'd just have to take the pathetic version on offer—and then nothing happened. Then, this week, the Attorney-General said an integrity commission was not a priority before the election—they're so busy discriminating against gay kids that they just can't get on with their actual job. Then the Prime Minister said, 'Oh no, we'll see.' But he continues to prioritise legislation that promotes bigotry in our community. So, one really has to wonder: can you trust a single word this Prime Minister and this government says? I think we all know the answer to that question.

There are few things that the Australian community is more unified on than the need for a strong corruption watchdog. Nearly 90 per cent of Australians want this, and it's an absolute disgrace that this government is using every trick in the book to try and delay doing it. Public confidence in the integrity of Australian politicians is plummeting, and rightly so. The latest Transparency International corruption perceptions index gives Australia its lowest ever ranking. Lack of progress on the Integrity Commission was a key factor in that lowest ever score. We need a strong, independent and powerful corruption watchdog with powers to root out the corruption that runs rife in this place and continues to undermine our democracy.

We have been pushing for this for 13 years, and two years ago this Senate passed the Greens bill for a strong independent corruption watchdog with teeth. Now, that was two years ago, and the government's refused to bring that on for a vote in the House. It's running scared of integrity. We support Senator Patrick's bill, which is a replica of Dr Haines's bill in the other place. We don't care whose name is on the bill; we just want it done.

Without a federal ICAC, Australians have to rely on a patchwork of other bodies to try and find out about the dodgy dealings of this government. We've got the ANAO, Senate inquiries, OPDs, FOI challenges, state and territory corruption bodies, AEC disclosures and investigative journalism. Even with that schema, which the government contends is adequate—it's clearly not—we've revealed a litany of scandals. The list is long and unedifying: sports rorts, 'pork and ride', the Urban Congestion Fund, the Leppington Triangle, 'watergate' and 'grassgate'. There are millions of dollars being handed to polluting gas companies headed up by Liberal donors. Last week's AEC disclosures revealed that Empire Energy made some sizeable donations before they got a government grant of public money to frack the Beetaloo basin, against the wishes of First Nations communities. Every single one of the grant programs that the ANAO has audited since 2009, to the tune of $10 billion—every single one of them—was found to be flawed, with problems identified ranging from minor improvements to serious maladministration.

This patchwork of integrity measures is clearly not enough, because corruption is rife. It's allowing far too many things to slip through the cracks, and the Australian public can't understand the full scale of corruption, fraud and dishonesty without a strong, independent corruption watchdog. Nor can we deter such behaviour without a strong watchdog.

As Australians head back to the polls—and that can't come soon enough—voters need to have confidence that a new government will be overseen by a corruption watchdog with broad powers. They need to have confidence that there will be consequences when corrupt conduct is identified and that there won't be a protection racket for politicians, which is the short version of what this government is proposing. We support bringing this bill on and giving Australians what they need to start rebuilding that confidence in our democracy and that confidence that the people they elect will work in the public interest. But it's no surprise that a government without integrity doesn't want to bring on a bill to set up an integrity commission.