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

I thank Senator Shoebridge for his amendment. The government, of course, supports the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Commission. I've made that point several times myself this morning, and I know other members of our government—in particular, the Attorney-General, Mr Dreyfus—have made the same point repeatedly over the last few months. One of the seven design principles for the commission that the government took to the election was that the commission would operate independent from government. The independence of the commission will be critical to its credibility and effectiveness. The bill contains a number of provisions to ensure the commission's independence, including that the commissioner will be able to receive complaints or referrals from any source, including the public; the commissioner will be able to commence corruption investigations and public inquiries on their own motion; the appointments of the commissioner and deputy commissioners will be subject to approval by a multipartisan parliamentary joint committee; and the commissioner will be appointed for a single fixed term and will have security of tenure comparable to that of a federal judge, ensuring the officers of the commission can undertake corruption investigations without fear of removal from office due to any findings they might make.

The government does not, however, support amending the objects clause to include a reference to the commission's independence. The objects clause in the bill is intended to set out the ultimate purpose of the legislation which, in the case of the NACC Bill—as this bill has become known—is to enable or facilitate the prevention, detection, timely investigation and referral for prosecution of corrupt conduct and to educate and provide information about corruption. The commission will be the means through which these objects are achieved, and its independence will assist in achieving these objects. However, neither the commission nor its independent status are ends or objects in their own right. For that reason, the government does not support this amendment.