David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move amendments (1) and (2) on sheet 2961 together:

(1) Clause 2, page 2 (at the end of the table), add:

(2) Page 90 (after line 10), at the end of the Bill, add:

Schedule 8 — National Anti-Corru p tion Commission Hearings

1 Subsection 73(2)

Repeal the subsection, substitute:

(2) The Commissioner may decide to hold a hearing, or part of a hearing, in public if the Commissioner is satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so.

2 Subsection 73(3)

Omit "may", substitute "must".

This bill amends the NACC Act, and I have a couple of questions about the NACC. During the committee process into what is now the NACC Act, the committee heard overwhelming evidence from experts that the discretion of the NACC commissioner to hold public hearings should not be curtailed. In fact, the committee heard evidence from commissioners from state integrity commissions that it should be the case that there should be a presumption towards having public hearings. This was put forward to ensure that we have public trust in the NACC and ongoing recognition of the work that it's doing, that it is seen as an institution that not only is important but is undertaking continuous work and that there is some sort of visibility of what is happening.

We see that the Labor Party sided with the coalition to set up the legislation in a way that we have no real oversight of what is happening in the NACC. There's a presumption towards having private hearings. Yes, they report from time to time, but we've seen recently, since the NACC was established, some real concerns being raised, particularly in relation to the robodebt matter. I acknowledge that the inspector-general, which I thank Senator Shoebridge and members of the crossbench for pushing so hard for, is considering this matter. Public confidence has clearly been shaken, and public confidence in the NACC is incredibly important. This amendment would ensure that we do have public hearings—that the NACC is able to hold them and hold them not just when they think there are exceptional circumstances. Minister, has the government reconsidered the unnecessary limit on the ability of the NACC to conduct public hearings to only where there are exceptional circumstances?