TIME FOR GOVERNMENT TO ACT ON INTEGRITY COMMISSION

The release today of the Blueprint for a National Integrity Commission is a wake-up call for the government, which continues to drag its feet on this important issue.

 

It has been nearly three months since Bill Shorten announced Labor’s pledge to create a National Integrity Commission in government. And it has been two weeks since Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus wrote to Attorney-General Christian Porter reiterating Labor’s offer to work with the government to expedite the creation of this body.

 

We have heard nothing but crickets from Mr Porter and the government he is a part of.

 

The government have given conflicting signals over their support for a national anti-corruption body – with Mr Porter himself stating the government was “open to the idea”. But they have failed to act. This is an idea whose time has come, and the government is being left behind.

 

A functional government, that is not distracted by a losing streak in the polls, may have acted. But their paralysis on this issue and many others shows just how incapacitated this government has become.