4 years ago
PORTER’S CONTEMPT FOR INTEGRITY
MARK DREYFUS QC MP
The Attorney-General Christian Porter has again shown his contempt for accountability and the Australian people by defying a Senate order to release his draft legislation for a National Integrity Commission.
Mr Porter claimed in January that a draft bill to establish a “Commonwealth Integrity Commission” was “all but complete”. And a few weeks ago he said that the bill was “ready to go”.
The Senate has today ordered that legislation be tabled but the nation’s first law officer has declared himself to be unaccountable, and refused to make the bill public.
It’s now long past time for an end to these delaying tactics.
It has now been two-and-a-half years since the Morrison Government claims to have started work on its weak, ineffective and opaque “Commonwealth Integrity Commission”.
It’s 18 months since Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Mr Porter promised to have draft legislation ready before the end of 2019.
And the Morrison Government is so terrified of being held to account that last week it refused to even allow a National Integrity Commission to be debated in the House.
The ever-growing list of scandals surrounding the Morrison Government shows why Australia needs a powerful and independent National Integrity Commission – and why Mr Morrison and his colleagues will do everything in their power to stop it.
Unlike the Morrison Government, Labor is committed to the establishment of a powerful, transparent and independent National Integrity Commission.
Mr Porter claimed in January that a draft bill to establish a “Commonwealth Integrity Commission” was “all but complete”. And a few weeks ago he said that the bill was “ready to go”.
The Senate has today ordered that legislation be tabled but the nation’s first law officer has declared himself to be unaccountable, and refused to make the bill public.
It’s now long past time for an end to these delaying tactics.
It has now been two-and-a-half years since the Morrison Government claims to have started work on its weak, ineffective and opaque “Commonwealth Integrity Commission”.
It’s 18 months since Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Mr Porter promised to have draft legislation ready before the end of 2019.
And the Morrison Government is so terrified of being held to account that last week it refused to even allow a National Integrity Commission to be debated in the House.
The ever-growing list of scandals surrounding the Morrison Government shows why Australia needs a powerful and independent National Integrity Commission – and why Mr Morrison and his colleagues will do everything in their power to stop it.
Unlike the Morrison Government, Labor is committed to the establishment of a powerful, transparent and independent National Integrity Commission.