The Greens and a key crossbencher want the proposed national anti-corruption commission to be independently funded and overseen by a parliamentary committee that operates at arm’s length from the federal government.
As discussions over the proposed agency continue, the Greens and independent Helen Haines, whose votes will be required to secure passage of the legislation, have already negotiated to lower the threshold for an investigation so the agency can examine “serious or systemic corruption”, rather than conduct that is both serious and systemic.
NSW Senator David Shoebridge and Greens leader Adam Bandt campaigned on a federal integrity commission.Credit:James Alcock
The Greens also want the agency’s powers expanded so it can “capture instances of potentially corrupting conduct by third parties in relation to government policies”, rather than just being able to examine third parties with government contracts.
Greens’ justice spokesman David Shoebridge said the agency should have “world-class financial independence” modelled on New Zealand’s integrity agencies, which submitted their budget proposals to a parliamentary committee that, with input from treasury, made a recommendation on funding.
If the government declined to provide the recommended funding, it has to explain why in writing.
“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to entrench genuine independence and that will be missed if we don’t entrench independent funding,” Shoebridge said.
“I would imagine in the first few years of operation they will be inundated with reports [of corruption]. Given the amount of work to be done the discussion is north of $100 million per year.”
Shoebridge praised Dreyfus for “clarifying the jurisdiction is systemic or serious corruption. There is however still significant room to move on independent funding and on full coverage of third parties who are seeking to retain or amend government policy”.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has consulted widely on the legislation, which is expected to be presented to the Labor caucus on Tuesday, September 6 and then introduced to parliament later in the week.
Asked if the Greens will withdraw support for the commission if it lacked independent funding, Shoebridge said “we have had good faith negotiations and expectation is that we will legislate it before the end of the year”.
Helen Haines.Credit:Simon Dallinger
Indi MP Haines, who drafted a well-regarded bill to establish an integrity commission in the previous parliament and who has met with Dreyfus several times, said she also wants a mechanism for independent funding guarantees as well as strong whistleblower protection.
“I will also be looking for a statutory oversight committee that has strong representation from the crossbench on it,” she said.
Transparency International chief executive Clancy Moore said his organisation had been championing a national anti-corruption corruption for about 20 years “so it is great to see the government prioritising this significant reform”.
“Importantly, we are advocating for a broad definition of corruption, so that grey areas of corruption – the non-criminal misconduct as well as the criminal conduct, can be investigated. This could include misuse of public funds or decisions motivated by self-interest.”
A spokesman for Dreyfus said the government would legislate a National Anti-Corruption Commission by the end of 2022.
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