Proposed legislation would see MPs penalised for bad behaviour
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.
Transcript
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.