Political aspirant and Hunter coalminer Stuart Bonds has welcomed a federal government review into the $1.9 billion Coal Long Service Leave fund.
Industrial Relations Minister Michaelia Cash announced the review by KPMG on Wednesday, the same day Coal LSL chief executive Darlene Perks told a Senate estimates hearing that some mining companies had been under-reporting hours worked by casuals.
The government corporation, whose board is split evenly between union and mining company representatives, regulates and manages portable long service leave entitlements on behalf of employees.
The review's terms of reference include achieving the "highest levels of public sector accountability, a strong and effective compliance and enforcement framework, prudent investment management of the fund [and] client responsiveness".
KPMG will examine laws governing Coal LSL and identify "real or perceived conflicts of interest" and "potential for, and instances of, identified fraud or breaches in good governance".
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Mr Bonds ran for One Nation in the 2019 federal election in the Hunter electorate but has since split from the party over its support for industrial relations laws which could affect casual miners.
Mr Bonds said Coal LSL needed reviewing but doubted any legislative changes would prove favourable to workers. He said the review needed to look at "all the missing hours".
"I welcome an honest and open review, and I believe it should be done by the senators themselves and from all sides of politics," he said.
"This is an extremely important issue involving a lot of money."
One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts told Parliament in February that "there are many examples of Coal LSL ... failing to have appropriate checks and balances to verify that employees are getting their entitlements".
Senator Cash said the laws governing the scheme were "not serving employees or employers as they should".
"This review is critical in ensuring the scheme, and the corporation that manages it, is a model for the highest standards of governance of worker entitlements," she said.
