Address to the Federation Chamber - ADJOURNMENT - National Anti-Corruption Commission update

Thursday 22 June 2023

In just over a week, the National Anti-Corruption Commission comes into operation. This was a key commitment of the Albanese Labor government, and it was a high priority for my constituents in Bean. The former Liberal government promised to legislate a federal integrity commission that would regulate government integrity. Instead, they gave us the sports rorts affair, secret ministries and the illegal Robodebt scheme, and so much more, as we find out every week. By the time of the 2022 federal election, trust in government had diminished and our global corruption rankings were at historic lows. My electorate of Bean voted for Labor because they wanted greater transparency, greater integrity and greater accountability in public life, whether at a representative or an administrative level.

The NACC will reduce government corruption by detecting, investigating and publicising corrupt conduct. The NACC will have timely investigation of corruption issues, capacity to publish reports on the investigations and education programs for the public sector on how to prevent corruption from occurring in the first place. The commencement of the NACC on 1 July, is evidence that the Albanese Labor government is delivering on better federal transparency and accountability for the Australian people and doing that incredibly important task of rebuilding trust in government.