Legislation to create a National Anti-Corruption Commission has been introduced to parliament, with some crossbenchers already flagging they will push for changes to provide greater scrutiny.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus tabled the legislation this morning, saying it was evidence of Labor's commitment to improve trust in politics.
"It will have the power to assess ministers, statutory office holders, employees and contractors," he said.
"It will have discretion to commence inquiries on its own initiative or in response to referrals from anyone, including members of the public and whistleblowers.
"Referrals can be anonymous. It will be able to investigate both criminal and non-criminal corrupt conduct and conduct occurring before or after its establishment."
Mr Dreyfus also said the commission would have the power to hold public hearings but "the default position is that hearings will be held in private".
Yesterday he revealed that hearings would only be public in "exceptional circumstances".
One of the key differences between Labor and the Coalition's models for an anti-corruption commission was whether hearings would be public or private.
Crossbench MPs have already flagged they intend to push for greater scrutiny by the commission.
The government's proposed bill indicates public hearings would only take place in "exceptional" circumstances, but Greens integrity spokesperson David Shoebridge said this was not best practice.
"In the last 24 hours we've seen the Labor government go back towards something much closer to [Scott] Morrison's model. That is not good for fighting corruption," he said.
Opposition backbencher Bridget Archer — who crossed the floor to vote in favour of debating independent MP Helen Haines's integrity bill last year — said she was "heartened" the Coalition seemed to be open to supporting the bill.
"Having public hearings is a hardline for me, there must be a capacity to hold public hearings," she said.
"But I'm open to seeing what the committee process does in terms of determining what ability the commission might have to do that."
Opposition supports government model
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he supported the model the government put forward, particularly because of its position on public hearings being rare.
"One of the first statements I made was I am in favour, instinctively, of an integrity commission but I want to have that balance and I don't want it to become an endless witch-hunt for people," he said.
"I think, frankly, the balance is there. There's the ability for public hearings to take place when it's appropriate to do so.
"It's the commissioner that has all the details of an allegation or investigation before him, or her, and that person has the ability to decide whether it'd be in the best interest for a public or private hearing to be held … I believe that is getting the balance right."
Mr Dutton said he did not want to see a situation where an innocent person's reputation was "trashed" because they appeared at the commission.
The legislation will now go to a parliamentary committee to be considered.
