Malcolm Turnbull has introduced legislation to create a new independent parliamentary expenses authority to advise, audit and rule on politicians’ use of taxpayer-funded entitlements.
Turnbull committed the government to implement recommendations of the Conde review of expenses, a further bill to fix the expenses framework and revealed an interim body established by executive order would police politicians until the new authority is set up.
But the bill included a number of measures that may shield parliamentarians in breach of rules, including not requiring them to produce evidence that incriminates themselves or others and a discretion for the body not to give a public report where it might cause “serious harm” to any person.
Turnbull announced the independent authority in January after Sussan Ley resigned as health minister over several controversial taxpayer-funded travel claims, including charging for a trip to the Gold Coast in which she bought a $795,000 apartment.
In a speech to the House of Representatives on Thursday, Turnbull said the authority would ensure that parliamentarians’ work expenses are “accountable, transparent and fair”.
Its core functions are to advise parliamentarians on expenses, monitor their use, process and audit claims and make rulings about expenses, including making orders for politicians to pay back claims in breach of rules.
Turnbull said the modernisation of the expense system would have the greatest impact, promising to speed up disclosure from six-monthly to monthly reports in an “accessible and searchable format”.
The bill specifies only that reporting must be “regular” because, as the accompanying memorandum explains, reporting will transition first to quarterly then monthly reporting.
The bill gives the independent expenses authority the power to publish reports on parliamentarians’ use of entitlements.
In January Turnbull refused to release the report of the investigation into Ley by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, citing the fact it was a report to himself and the cabinet governance committee.
Section 60 of the bill provides a number of instances in which the authority is forbidden to publish reports, including when it or the attorney general believes a report would harm security, defence or international relations.
A further exemption is where the authority believes disclosure is “likely to result in serious harm to the individual, or any of the individuals, to whom the information relates”. The explanatory memorandum says that is limited to “physical or mental harm” and is designed to prevent “misuse” of information.
Parliament and its committees cannot compel the authority to release a report in those circumstances.
The bill gives the authority power to order politicians or others to give it documents, but section 55 allows them to refuse the order if the information “might tend to incriminate the person or expose the person to a penalty”.
That means the authority will have weaker powers than many civil regulators including the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the Australian Tax Office and the Australian Building and Construction Commission whose regimes don’t allow people to refuse on the basis of a privilege against self-incrimination.
At a press conference in Canberra on Thursday, Bill Shorten said he would study the bill but Labor had offered bipartisan support for the expenses authority.
Shorten said expenses are an issue for everyone because people “turn off politics ... when they think that the politicians are in it for themselves and not the people”.
Turnbull said an independent board and decisions made at arm’s length from the government would give the public confidence in its decisions.
The board will be made up of a chair, the president of the remuneration tribunal, a former judge, a former member of parliament, and a person with substantial experience in auditing.
When the bill is passed the expenses authority will be established on July 1. In the meantime an advisory body established by executive order will provide advice on expenses.
