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

Thanks, Senator Lambie. I understand that you aren't supportive of the commissioner who was appointed to this role. I respect your right to have those views. Obviously the government doesn't share those views in relation to the commissioner, and we have confidence that he will make the right decisions based on the factors that have been held there.

I should also make the broader point about trust in democracy and trust in government. This is not the only measure this government has taken in order to try and rectify that problem. There is an issue there around public confidence. It's one of the reasons we created the National Anti-Corruption Commission. We've pursued much broader reform as well when it comes to the powers of the Ombudsman, privacy commissioners and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security. Right now, Senator Farrell is trying to negotiate a package of reforms on electoral funding but we haven't yet been able to get agreement from either the coalition or the Greens on the package being put forward. There are a range of things this government has done that go to that point about public confidence in democracy, and we intend to pursue those further.