The Greens’ model for a National Integrity Commission, which passed the Senate two years ago, has been given top marks by The Centre for Public Integrity, while the Morrison model was judged “the weakest in the country”.
Greens deputy leader and spokesperson on democracy Senator Larissa Waters said:
“This PM’s integrity body proposal has today been given an F for flaccid.
“Under his pathetic proposal many of the misconduct scandals involving current and former government MPs would slip through the net.
“Morrison knows that half of the members of his Cabinet have serious integrity questions to answer, which could explain why his model is deliberately weak. It wouldn’t be able to hold public hearings, initiate its own investigations, act retrospectively, make findings of fact or report publicly.
“It would also only investigate ‘serious’ criminal corruption – such a high bar so as to render it inapplicable to much of the dodgy conduct we’ve seen from federal politicians.
“It’s long overdue, and it’s so undercooked it looks like it’s deliberately designed to fail.
“By contrast, the Greens’ National Integrity Commission bill establishes an effective body that allows for public hearings, retrospectivity and the ability to investigate anonymous tip-offs, balanced with appropriate safeguards and privacy provisions.
“Morrison should listen to the Australian people and bring on the Greens’ bill for debate in the House when parliament resumes. If he doesn’t, the Greens will attempt to force the PM’s hand by moving a concurrence motion.
“The Australian people know that corruption and misconduct are rife at the federal level. It’s time for the PM to restore confidence in our democracy.”
