Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I thank all senators for their contribution to the debate on these bills. A number of senators have made the point that they are supportive of this legislation and supportive of the establishment of a national anti-corruption commission, regardless of views they may hold about particular amendments that have been foreshadowed in this debate.

I welcome the fact that there is such a broad level of support for a national anti-corruption commission. I don't think that there's any doubt that this is something the Australian public has been wanting to see happen for a very long time. It is unfortunate that it has taken as long as it has to see a government prepared to step up and introduce legislation into a parliament that will establish a strong national anti-corruption commission to deliver on that community expectation of the way we conduct politics. There have been too many events in recent years that have not passed the pub test as far as the community is concerned, and the fact that we haven't had a national anti-corruption commission has allowed bad behaviour, wrong behaviour and, indeed, corrupt behaviour to go on for far too long at the national level in this country. So I'm pleased to be part of a government that is finally stepping up to the plate and delivering a strong national anti-corruption commission in response to that community sentiment. As I say, the government is pleased to support the passage of the National Anti-Corruption Commission Bill 2022 and the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2022.

This legislation will establish a powerful, transparent and independent national anticorruption commission. These bills incorporate the design principles the government announced before the election, which were developed with some of Australia's leading integrity advocates. I pay tribute to the people who have been advocating this cause of establishing a national anticorruption commission for so long—people like Professor Anne Twomey, who recognises that, in her words, this bill:

… appears to be well-considered and applies appropriate powers and protections.

People like the Accountability Round Table:

The Bill creates the NACC, an important proactive reform of existing integrity mechanisms worthy of widespread support.

Groups like Transparency International Australia, which:

… congratulates the Government on proposing a definition of corrupt conduct, to define the Commission's investigative jurisdiction, which is simpler, broader, more flexible and less technical than most previous Australian precedents.

There are so many more that I could name who have been campaigning for the establishment of a national anticorruption commission for many years. Again, I pay tribute to their efforts.

The commission will operate independently of government and have broad jurisdiction to investigate serious or systemic corrupt conduct across the Commonwealth public sector. It will have the power to investigate ministers, parliamentarians and their staff, statutory officeholders, employees of all government entities and contractors. It will have discretion to commence inquiries on its own initiative or in response to referrals from anyone, including members of the public and whistleblowers. Referrals can be anonymous. It will be able to investigate both criminal and non-criminal corrupt conduct and conduct occurring before or after its establishment. It will have the power to hold public hearings. It will also have a mandate to prevent corruption and educate Australians about corruption.

In a number of respects, the model the government is putting forward for a national anticorruption commission goes well beyond any other proposal we have seen from a federal government in our country, having much wider power as to the range of people whose behaviour can be investigated and much wider power to initiate inquiries on its own initiative. I always thought it was farcical that the proposal we saw from the former government would only allow investigations of matters referred to a commission by the government of the day—as if any government would refer matters it didn't want investigated to an anticorruption commission! It's important, therefore, that the model we're putting forward and that this parliament will support allows the National Anti-Corruption Commission to commence inquiries on its own initiative.

A parliamentary joint committee will oversee the commission and will be empowered to require the commission to provide information about its performance. These bills have been further refined with the benefit of the public inquiry and the unanimous report of the Joint Select Committee on National Anti-Corruption Commission Legislation. On that note, I thank the chair, Senator Linda White; the deputy chair, the member for Indi, Dr Helen Haines; members of the committee; and all those who made submissions and gave evidence to the committee's inquiry. Not having played a role in that inquiry myself, I was really impressed that that joint select committee was able to come to unanimous recommendations, given it spanned all sides of this parliament—major parties and independents as well. For such a contentious issue that has not been acted on previously in this parliament, for that committee to come to a unanimous report was a tremendous effort. I commend the members of the committee for the work they did there. The committee has made six unanimous recommendations, which the government welcomes. We have moved amendments to implement those recommendations. The House of Representatives has passed this bill with those amendments.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission will operate independently of government and have broad jurisdiction to investigate serious or systemic corrupt conduct across the Commonwealth public sector. It will have the power, as I've said, to investigate ministers, parliamentarians and their staff, statutory officeholders, employees of all government entities and contractors.

As I said, it goes further than any model we have seen previously in having the discretion to commence inquiries on its own initiative or in response to referrals from anyone. It will be able to investigate both criminal and non-criminal conduct and conduct occurring before or after its establishment. This is something that has attracted some public debate, whether it is right to have a corruption commission with retrospective powers. I think it is important that a National Anti-Corruption Commission does so. Just as it's important that a National Anti-Corruption Commission has the power to commence inquiries on its own initiative, to not be constrained by the government of the day as to what it can investigate but to be truly independent of government and to have the capacity to make its own decisions about what it would investigate, it is equally important that we have a National Anti-Corruption Commission that has retrospective powers to look at things that've occurred in the past, as well as right now and in the future.

The whole principle of this National Anti-Corruption Commission is that it operates independently of government. It shouldn't be tied by the government of the day as to what it can and can't investigate, or who it can and can't investigate, or the time period that it can or can't investigate. The important principle that underpins this National Anti-Corruption Commission is that it will have the power to investigate serious and systemic corrupt conduct. That's the linchpin. If behaviour, in the commission's view, amounts to that then it should have the power to investigate, regardless of who it involves—provided they're, obviously, connected to the Commonwealth—regardless of when it occurred and regardless of whether people like whether it's investigating it or not. I've heard the Attorney-General, Mr Dreyfus, asked many times in the media whether the commission should investigate this or should investigate that, and he's rightly made the point that these are all matters for the independent Anti-Corruption Commission.

Establishing this Anti-Corruption Commission is a very important step in trying to restore public confidence in our system of government and in what happens in this building. I think we all know, and even members of the opposition will acknowledge privately, that public trust politics and public trust in the Australian government was eroded over the last few years by a series of scandals that we saw, with no public agency in existence at a federal government level with the capacity to investigate those matters. So the very worst thing that we could do, now that this parliament is finally creating a National Anti-Corruption Commission, is tie its hands as to the type of conduct which could be investigated, the people who could be investigated, or the time period that could be investigated. Leaving these things open for the commission to make its own mind up is important as a way of maintaining and rebuilding public confidence in how politics works in this country and how governments work in this country.

The bill will ensure appropriate oversight of the commission by a parliamentary joint committee and an inspector. The parliamentary joint committee will be empowered to require the commission to provide information about its work. The committee will also be responsible for approving the appointments of the commissioner, the deputy commissioners and the inspector. This inspector will deal with any corruption issues arising in the commission and complaints about the commission, and will review and determine the extent of compliance with the law by the commission when exercising the power to issue a summons or arrest warrant.

I know from the activities of state anticorruption commissions that they do have a very extensive powers, and that is only right. These are important issues that we need a strong independent commission to have the power properly investigate. But it is important that those powers themselves aren't misused by an anticorruption commission, and that's why this bill also provides for the position of an inspector who will have the ability to review the activities of the commission and ensure that it's not overstepping its boundaries.

The legislation ensures that there are appropriate safeguards against undue reputational damage and provides robust protection for whistleblowers, journalists and persons assisting a journalist. It is of course important that people who want to make complaints to a national anticorruption commission do have protection for doing so, but, equally, that there are safeguards against undue reputational damage when it comes to the publication of information concerning the commission's activities.

The government has committed substantial funding of $262 million over four years for this commission, and this funding will ensure that the commission has the staff, capabilities and capacity to perform its important functions.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill makes consequential amendments to the Commonwealth statute book to support the establishment of the commission. The consequential bill will ensure the commission has key investigative powers and has the ability to share and receive information for the purpose of carrying out its functions. The consequential bill will also repeal the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner Act 2006 and provide transitional arrangements for the continuation of investigations and inquiries being conducted by the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity, following the establishment of the commission.

Australians rightly expect honesty, accountability and integrity in government, and, sadly, those qualities have been lacking from Australian politics and the Commonwealth government for far too long. It's time that we restored honesty in politics, it's time that we restored accountability in Australian politics and it's time that we restored integrity in Australian politics, and this bill creating a national anticorruption commission will go a long way towards that.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission will form an essential part of Australia's broader integrity framework. We have established robust codes of conduct for ministers and ministerial staff, and we are working across the parliament to implement the Set the standard report from Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins. We are committed to enhancing transparency and integrity of political donations. The government is developing reforms to the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 to require agencies to take measures to prevent, detect and deal with corruption, which will complement the establishment of the commission. The Attorney-General has also announced that the government will be introducing priority reforms to the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 to improve whistleblower protections, with the aim of having these reforms in place when the commission commences operation.

With these bills to establish a powerful, transparent and independent national anticorruption commission, the government is delivering on its promise to tackle corruption and to restore trust and integrity to public institutions. There have been too many scandals. There have been too many rorts. There have been too many things that Australians have just shaken their heads at when it comes to the use of Commonwealth funds and the behaviour of certain Commonwealth officials. This bill, the National Anti-Corruption Commission Bill, is the start of turning around that tawdry episode in Australian politics. I commend the bill to the chamber.