Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate calls on the Rudd Government to establish an independent Parliamentary Standards Commissioner to give clear and independent advice on the legitimate expenditure of electorate allowance, and other allowances to members of parliament and to monitor and publicly report on the expenditure of the $32,000 per annum electorate allowance.

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I thank Senator Brown for moving his motion to establish and independent Parliamentary Standards Commissioner. I respect the initiative behind this motion. The Australian Taxation Office has a role in monitoring electorate allowances, but the motion as recognised is constructed more broadly than just the electorate allowances; it includes other allowances as well. Senator Brown has correctly identified that this broad area of public expenditure has its problems as it is currently arranged, and I think there are two main grounds for this. Firstly, there is a need for greater transparency in the area of politicians’ entitlements. Of course, it is not helped by the fact that the system itself is complex, arcane and has grown up out of a range of ad hoc arrangements. Secondly, it is, not surprisingly, a complex area dealing with entitlements systems. Members and senators can and do find the administration difficult to navigate through. It is a technical, unique and quite discrete area of administration, and it requires significantly well trained staff to deal with the requirements of providing advice and clarity about it. The ministerial and parliamentary entitlements section of the Department of Finance and Deregulation has that responsibility. I am not convinced that it is equipped with either clear guidelines or a system of practices that would enable the offering of definitive advice in this area.

For those reasons, over the coming weeks I intend to examine this area and I will take on board the model proposed by Senator Brown. I know it is not formulated in a final method, but I understand the suggestion which underpins it, amongst others that I may look at as well. (Extension of time granted) However, I am not prepared to commit the government to the selection of this model or to an agreement to a motion of this broad application. Accordingly, I will not be supporting the motion. I think it requires time to consider the views, to discuss it with colleagues around this chamber, including ministerial colleagues, and to undertake a consultative process in respect of it. I have previously in this chamber dealt more broadly with the issue of the Remuneration Tribunal, which dealt with the increase to the allowance, so I will not go over that territory again. I have indicated a position that, though Senator Brown may not agree with it, I think serves a better course. I am happy to further discuss with him how he might want to progress some of these matters as well. I know he has interest in ensuring there is integrity and public accountability in this area.

Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I thank the Senate. This is an important motion and right in the heart of this is the word ‘advice.’ I ask senators to take that into consideration. I know from trying to keep my own affairs clear and within the rules of proper expenditure of public money—as all senators do—that you very often cannot get advice on whether a matter is part of electoral spending or not. I think parliamentarians ought to be able to get such advice. We have only to look at the debacle in Britain at the moment to know that it is better not to put our head in the sand but to know exactly what we are doing here.

The government says there are not people trained to be able to give that advice. There ought to be. There should be clear guidelines and the Taxation Office should keep a watch on this. There is no public reporting from the Taxation Office—nor should it be a watchdog on this matter. I thank the minister. We will be supporting the government in establishing a form of advice to members of parliament as well as a watchdog in the public interest, because there is a considerable amount of public money involved. We will not be acceding to a process of putting this on the shelf and allowing it to drift. That is what worries me about the government’s opposition at this time. I take up the offer for further talks. I would like to see this matter expedited and have some resolution this year.

Question put.