Helen Haines knows a thing or two about patience.
The independent MP, who succeeded Cathy McGowan as the “Voices for Indi” candidate in 2019, spent much of her first term advocating for a federal integrity commission, putting forward a widely praised model which the Coalition ignored.
The fight continued once Labor came to power, with Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus proposing a far weaker model than Haines’, even as the government commended her for her leadership. She fought “tooth and nail” to strengthen Labor’s bill, especially when it came to public hearings, and spent hours moving amendments, which the major parties teamed up to block.
One year in, Haines admits the National Anti-Corruption Commision (NACC) isn’t perfect, acknowledging disappointment at its decision not to investigate referrals from the robodebt royal commission (the decision received nearly 900 complaints, with questions surrounding the “recusal” of Commissioner Paul Brereton, a long-time friend of Kathryn Campbell, who was secretary of the Department of Human Services during the rollout of the robodebt scheme). The NACC has only claimed three convictions thus far, all through investigations it inherited. But Haines is willing to give it more time.
“There are a lot of everyday Australians who pinned such hope in all of the things that I talked about,” she says, chatting over a plate of “Indi cookies”, made by supporters in her electorate, in mid-August. “My response to that is one of the fundamental tenets of everything I ever said about a National Anti-Corruption Commission was that it must be independent of politicians, that it can’t be politicised, that it must be an independent body, and I still hold true to that.”
Haines, who is deputy chair of the committee charged with ensuring the NACC legislation is working as intended, says the fact the robodebt decision received so many complaints, with an investigation opened by the NACC inspector within days, shows the system is working.
“The legislation is doing what it’s designed to do, and I, like everyone else, need now to be patient to see what the inspector comes back with.”
It’s quite an ask for robodebt victims who have spent years waiting for justice. Last week’s findings from the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) — one of the last remaining lines of inquiry — led to minimal sanctions, leaving victims “embarrassed” to have ever expected justice. Some ponder whether the NACC will be publicly accountable for its decisions, querying the openness of the oversight committee. Investigative journalist Anthony Klan, whose outlet The Klaxon has led coverage of the NACC’s “military-grade secrecy”, has since recommended in a tweet that independents “distance [themselves] from the sham that is the NACC”, tagging Haines.
Speaking on the phone following the release of the APSC findings, Haines reiterates the need to wait for the results of the NACC inspector’s inquiry, which she expects by the end of the year. Asked about growing frustrations around secrecy, she points to her unsuccessful efforts to improve transparency preceding the body’s establishment, and more recent improvements in reporting from the NACC, arguing it is still only one year old. It’s clear she wants to maintain faith in the commission she long fought for.
“I absolutely understand the general public’s disappointment in regard to consequences for the egregious harm that was done by robodebt,” Haines adds, noting the NACC was only one of the bodies looking into it. “Given that those bodies have handed down their responses to the royal commission, I would like to see that sealed section now of the royal commission’s findings. It needs to see the light of day now.”
To be fair to Haines, it’s not as if she didn’t try. I still recall her desperately imploring the chamber to support her final failed amendment to the NACC, aimed at increasing its independence. “Colleagues, I say to you today, look at this amendment. Don’t just follow along with what your party tells you to do. Think like an independent…”
It’s a plea that continues to fall on deaf ears. While there are some “notable exceptions”, Haines finds there is little independent thinking going on in the major parties. She’s nevertheless optimistic that her latest project — a bill to “end pork-barrelling” by ensuring clear, merit-based selection criteria and reporting requirements for grants — will ultimately find success, despite there currently being “no willingness from either major party”.
“Again, Rome’s not built in a day,” she says. “It takes someone standing it up in the Parliament and calling it out and putting forward a solution, and that’s what I’m doing. I’m trying to garner colleagues who will support me in this and that’s how I worked last time: I gradually built a coalition of people who were willing to stand up in the Parliament and say, ‘Helen’s right about this.’ So watch this space.”
These days, she has a few extra colleagues willing to say as much. Haines, who represents a regional electorate, is not part of the “teal” wave that took out wealthy urban seats in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. But the class of 2022 are known to look up to her, using the semi-ironic phrase “what would Helen do?”
When I ask what she makes of it, Haines laughs.
“I think it’s like having… a big sister,” she says, pointing out that while she had McGowan, most independents come in without a support structure. “Someone you trust. Someone who’s had a little more experience than you, and someone you can come to and shut the door confidentially and have a bit of a yarn.”
The member for Indi is just as happy to talk to major party MPs, though admittedly they come knocking a little less often.
“When I’m introducing a private member’s bill, I shop it around, so ask people if I could come and have a talk to them,” she says. “And I invite people here for an Indi cake and cookie if they want to do that! Because I’m really interested to test ideas with other people.”
Haines believes a hung parliament would be “an enormous gift to the nation”, and is ready to talk to either side about her issues. Because while she’s willing to be patient when it comes to the NACC, there are many other avenues to improve integrity, should she find herself with the balance of power.
“The work of anti-corruption is never done,” she says calmly. “You can’t just rely on the National Anti-Corruption Commission to do all the work.”
