Fatima Payman (WA, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The issue of whistleblower protection has been plagued by political inertia in recent years. The previous coalition government let the Moss review collect dust while whistleblowers like Bernard Collaery faced relentless prosecution. It was, to their credit, a refreshing change when the current government dropped the charges against Collaery and promised to act on the Moss review's recommendations. But what followed? Days passed, days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months.

As months turned into years, the government chose to continue prosecuting more cases. David McBride, who exposed war crimes committed by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan, was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison last year. Richard Boyle, who blew the whistle on improper debt recovery tactics by the ATO—tactics that the ATO was later forced to stop—will stand trial later this year.

The Attorney-General released a discussion paper on whistleblower reform in November 2023. Since then—silence. Nothing. This has utterly fallen off the government's agenda. It's not so for the crossbench, who have introduced here and in the other place the whistleblower protection authority bills. These would establish a strong, independent body that not only protects whistleblowers but actively supports them in disclosing wrongdoing.

Whistleblowers are essential to our democracy. Their insider knowledge can expose the very misconduct that reviews and inquiries fail to uncover. And yet, just like the with banning gambling ads, legislating truth in political advertising or strengthening our climate targets, the government continues to ignore private members' bills, even when there is majority support in both houses. (Time expired)