Politicians could soon be suspended from parliament kicked off powerful committees and even fined up to five per cent of their salary if they're found to have engaged in misconduct. A new independent commission is set to be established nearly four years after a damning report into the toxic culture of federal parliament was handed down.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Modernising old institutions takes time and will.
00:06This legislation today is designed to move our parliament forward one more step.
00:11A step towards a workplace that actually sets the standard for others.
00:15Every other workplace in the country has these standards of behaviour and parliament should too.
00:20For the first time in the history of parliament,
00:22codes of conduct for politicians and staffers have been written and endorsed.
00:26Now they'll be enforced.
00:29An independent parliamentary standards commission is set to be established
00:33to investigate serious misconduct and sanction the culprits,
00:37including MPs and senators themselves.
00:40The sanctions we are looking at are suspension,
00:44removal from a parliamentary committee or a fine.
00:47Plus, I guess, the transparency that comes with this process.
00:52While investigations will be kept secret,
00:55it'll be up to parliament's 13-person Privileges Committee,
00:58and ultimately the parliament, to determine which penalty should apply.
01:03For years, politicians have behaved badly and got away with it,
01:08but that changes today.
01:10It's the final recommendation of Case Jenkins' landmark 2021 report,
01:15which lifted the lid on bad behaviour at parliament house.
01:19A report triggered by the alleged rape of former staffer Brittany Higgins
01:24inside a ministerial office.
01:26A set standard report found that bullying, harassment,
01:30other complaints were common in this workplace
01:33and we're trying to change that.
01:35Cultural change is happening here, albeit slowly.
01:39Parliament's adopted more family-friendly sitting hours
01:42and a new workplace support service has been set up,
01:45bringing an HR service to a building that lacked one.
01:48But in an atypical workplace where conflict is embedded,
01:52some reckon there's still room to lift the tone of debate.
01:56The shouting, the mocking, the name-calling.
01:59I have never stood in a boardroom and been yelled at.