Anthony Albanese has attacked Scott Morrison for blaming a lack of Labor support as the reason he couldn’t legislate his proposed anti-corruption commission, saying the argument “fails the laugh test”, as the federal opposition defended their rocky start to the election campaign.
On Saturday, as Labor unveiled a commitment to legislate a national anti-corruption commission by the end of 2022 if elected, both the prime minister and opposition leader faced questions over their ideal model for an integrity body, with Albanese suggesting Labor’s version would be stronger than the Coalition’s proposal that was widely panned and opposed by some government MPs.
Campaigning in Cairns on Saturday, Albanese suggested that the Morrison government’s lack of progress on a federal anti-corruption watchdog – a promise it made at the previous election but did not deliver – was due to a fear its own recent scandals could come under further scrutiny.
“We know the reason why Scott Morrison doesn’t have a national anti-corruption commission is sitting on his frontbench,” Albanese said. “The fact that there have been so many integrity issues raised against minister after minister.”
Albanese listed “the sport rorts affair, the commuter car parks affair”, as well as “issues like the correspondence that was dropped out from Angus Taylor’s office about Clover Moore”, “the purchase of land worth $3m where the government paid $30m for it” and the decision to give $444m to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation without a tender process as reasons why Morrison did not want the watchdog.
“It’s very clear that not only has Scott Morrison failed to legislate for one, not only has he failed to introduce legislation, he’s now saying somehow, once again, in perhaps the greatest underlining element of Scott Morrison’s characteristic of always looking to blame someone else, somehow, it’s the Labor party’s fault that he hasn’t introduced legislation for a national anti-corruption commission.
“It fails the laugh test. But it also fails the integrity test.”
Albanese said his vision for an anti-corruption commission to be legislated by the end of the year would be one “with teeth, one that has independent, investigative powers”.
“It is one that will be real, as opposed to their model that has been rejected by everyone.”
Asked about how he would deal with any Labor politicians who faced charges from a future commission, he said “of course, they should stand aside”.
Albanese said that under his model “there would be scope for public hearings, if the anti-corruption commission itself felt that was necessary” and said investigations could be retrospective as “it would be a matter for them [the commission itself]”.
The Coalition’s model is a commission that would not conduct public hearings or release reports into alleged corruption by public servants and politicians. The model has been panned by experts.
Morrison, speaking after visiting a lolly shop in Melbourne, said he would try to implement the same model for an integrity commission in the next term of parliament, but that he would ultimately “need the support of the parliament” to do so.
He called his plan for an integrity commission “detailed legislation” that spans 300 pages, and said Labor’s plan was a “two-page fluff sheet”.
Morrison echoed criticisms of New South Wales’ Independent Commission Against Corruption that he made in recent days – when he likened the body to a kangaroo court – and said his vision for a federal counterpart would not “seek to judge people before they’re able to have their matters properly considered”.
Meanwhile, the opposition treasury spokesman, Jim Chalmers, also responded to news reports citing anonymous Labor insiders and MP claiming morale within the party had deteriorated after the first week of the election campaign.
“Of course, we are match-fit,” Chalmers said. “We are up for the challenge of getting this country a better future under Labor and providing the kind of alternative that people are proud to vote for.”
Asked if the Labor campaign was a “shitshow”, as one anonymous Labor MP is reported as describing it, Chalmers said “it is not my experience of this campaign”.
“My experience is that, all around Australia, there is an appetite for something better than this current government,” he said. “People are hurting because their wages are not keeping up the cost of living. That is what people are focused on. And that is what the Labor party is focused on.”
