Anthony Albanese says he will legislate a national anti-corruption commission by the end of 2022 if Labor wins the election.
Albanese’s commitment, to be confirmed on Saturday, follows Scott Morrison declaring this week he will only revive his government’s heavily criticised integrity commission proposal if Labor and the Senate are prepared to pass it unamended.
The intensifying political battle over the integrity commission comes as the department of finance confirmed it had not briefed the finance minister, Simon Birmingham, or any other ministerial office about the details of a claim involving the former Liberal party staffer, Rachelle Miller.
The Morrison government has been battling controversy this week over its stance on the integrity commission, and separately, its refusal to provide details about what was expected to be a payout to Miller of more than $500,000.
On Thursday, Miller challenged the prime minister to publicly release details of the settlement payment she would receive after alleging harassment and bullying while working for senior ministers.
The finance department said in a statement to Guardian Australia it had handled Miller’s claim at “arms-length from the government”. The statement said officials did not intend to comment on the details of any individual claim.
“Notwithstanding Ms Miller’s release of correspondence, the Department of Finance continues to manage Ms Miller’s claim, which has not been finalised, and does not intend to provide any further public comment on this matter”.
Miller worked previously for Alan Tudge and Michaelia Cash.
Controversy over the government’s stance on the integrity commission, meanwhile, erupted in the middle of the week.
Morrison pledged before the 2019 election to legislate a federal integrity body in the parliamentary term that has just ended. The prime minister broke that promise, failing to introduce his own proposal before the 46th parliament was prorogued.
On the hustings on Wednesday, Morrison was asked – given his previous undertaking to create the body – whether he would promise to put his proposal to a vote in the next parliament in the event the Coalition won the 21 May election.
Morrison declined to make that promise. “Our position on this hasn’t changed,” the prime minister said. “Our view has been the same – when the Labor party is prepared to support that legislation in that form, then we will proceed with it.”
Retired judges on Friday criticised the Morrison government’s broken promise as a “massive policy failure”, saying the Coalition’s explanation for walking away from the pledge was “spurious”.
A number of independents running against Liberals in metropolitan seats have made it clear that establishing a credible national integrity commission will be a key demand in the event any new government – Liberal or Labor – is seeking agreements for confidence and supply.
The independent MP for Indi, Helen Haines, who has proposed her own model for an anti-corruption commission, blasted Morrison’s position this week. The crossbench independent said it was “nonsense” for the prime minister to claim that he could not proceed unless Labor agreed with the Coalition’s proposal without seeking any amendments. “It would appear we are in the same void as we were before,” Haines said.
While Labor has not produced a fully fleshed out alternative proposal, the opposition favours a model with stronger powers than the Coalition’s integrity body.
The Coalition’s preferred model would not hold public hearings during investigations into politicians or public servants. Labor’s proposal is a body that would have the power to investigate allegations of serious and systemic corruption that occurred before or after its establishment and the power to hold public hearings where the commission determines that is in the public interest.
Albanese said Morrison had “delayed and obfuscated for over three years – and then this week it became clear he has absolutely no intention of honouring his promise to deliver a national anti-corruption commission at all”.
“So the question for Mr Morrison is – why do you fear an anti-corruption commission? What is it you’re afraid they will find?”
