Additional comments
on behalf of the Australian Greens
The Australian Greens agree with
the recommendations of the Senators’ Interests Committee that any code of
conduct which is adopted needs to be meaningful, workable and reasonable. In
addition, we would add that any code must also be enforceable. However, we do
not support the conclusion of the committee that a code of conduct should not
be adopted. It is not our view that just because we cannot conclude what type
of code, or the content of the code is difficult to develop, we can fail to
act. The public expect more of their elected representatives and we should
strive to meet those expectations.
The Australian Greens welcome the
committee’s in principle support for the role of a Parliamentary Integrity
Commissioner.
The Australian Greens believe that
integrity and accountability in politics are vital to a healthy democracy. As
such, we have introduced a bill, the National Integrity
Commissioner Bill 2010, which would establish a national
anti-corruption body charged with overseeing public officials and Commonwealth
agencies. We do believe that the establishment of such an office would go some
way to assuaging the concerns and expectations of community members. More
importantly, by its very existence and advisory functions, the standards of
conduct would necessarily increase and this can only be viewed as positive.
The Independent
Parliamentary Advisor, also proposed under that Australian Greens bill, would
have the ability to provide written advice to Ministers and parliamentarians on
standards, codes of conduct, entitlements, potential conflicts of interest,
ethical issues and matters of propriety. It would be concerned with
providing independent confidential written advice to ministers,
parliamentarians, and former parliamentarians in relation to conflict of
interest, ethics, proprietary and similar matters and providing advice on the
development of codes of conduct. There are many instances where the rules or
guidelines governing the conduct of federal parliamentarians are not clear or
sufficiently detailed. Often the advice from relevant departments leaves it to
the discretion of the parliamentarian. The lack of clarity and direction in
these cases leaves parliamentarians unnecessarily vulnerable to inadvertent
misconduct, with consequent serious penalties. We agree with the
Committee’s proposition that there is a need to bring together the raft of
existing obligations and this could be the role of such an advisor.
Our bill provides for
written advice on such instances where the guidelines are unclear, or where
claims of misconduct are made against a parliamentarian who has sought to
follow the guidelines. The existence of such a body would help Australian
federal parliamentarians to avoid the type of systemic misconduct seen recently
in parliaments overseas as well an increase the ethical standing of federal
parliamentarians generally.
The Bill provides a
definition of “corrupt conduct” as including any conduct that:
- adversely affects the honest or impartial exercise of functions
by the Parliament, a Commonwealth agency or public officials by any person;
- involves the dishonest exercise of functions by a public
official;
- involves a breach of public trust by a public official;
-
perverts the course of justice;
- involves the misuse of information or material by a public
official.
It lists kinds of “corrupt
conduct”, such as blackmail, bribery and fraud, for the purposes of adversely
affecting the exercise of functions by the Parliament, a Commonwealth agency or
public officials, and provides for retrospectivity in that the National
Integrity Commissioner can investigate corrupt conduct that occurred before the
commencement of the Bill or before a person became a public official or outside
Australia. A parliamentary code of conduct should include these points, and
others, such as those outlined in Appendix 5 of the House Committee on
Privileges and Members’ Interests.
The Greens bill for a Parliamentary
Integrity Commissioner provides the legislative framework for a comprehensive
proactive and responsive national approach to corruption and misconduct. At a
time when the Australian public are increasingly sceptical and mistrustful of
its federal parliamentarians and public servants, the National Integrity
Commissioner Bill provides a bulwark against its concerns now and into the
future. We look forward to the opportunity to debate this bill in the Senate,
along with the committee’s other suggestions arising from this inquiry.
Senator
Larissa Waters
Australian Greens Senator for Queensland
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