Australian Greens Dissenting Report
The Australian Greens are firmly of the view that there is a
strong need for a Parliamentary Code of Conduct. We are therefore disappointed
that the Procedures Committee does not recommend its adoption.
As noted by the committee, the motion from November 2018 was
not the first time the Greens had presented such a motion. Nor was it the first
time that a code of conduct has been proposed.
Indeed there have been proposals made to adopt a code of
conduct over a period of over 40 years.
Previous calls for a Code of Conduct
In September 1975, a Joint Committee on Pecuniary Interests
of Members of Parliament stated that it ‘felt that a precise and meaningful
code of conduct should exist’. It recommended that a Joint Standing Committee
be established and be given the task of drafting a code, but this
recommendation was not implemented.
Four years later, an inquiry into public duty and private
interest, chaired by Sir Nigel Bowen, recommended that a code of conduct be
implemented for officeholders, including members of parliament. Only a register
of interests resulted from that process.
In 1991 the Prime Minister proposed that a working group of
parliamentarians be established to develop a seminar on the standards of
conduct expected of senators and members. This subsequently evolved into a
working group looking to develop a code of conduct. That working group did not
complete its task before the 1993 election.
Over the next two years, a working group was convened to
develop a code of conduct for both Senators and Members and for Ministers. The
working group proposed ‘A framework for ethical principles for Members and
Senators’ and ‘A framework of ethical principles for Ministers and Presiding
Officers’. Progress on these frameworks lapsed at the end of the 37th
Parliament and they were not revisited.
Despite the welcome introduction of a Ministerial code of
conduct in 1996 under Prime Minister John Howard and the subsequent Standards
of Ministerial Ethics progressed in 2007 under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, a
code of conduct for all parliamentarians was not discussed again until 2008.
That year the House of Representatives Committee of
Privileges and Members’ Interests stated that there were strong reasons for a
code being established, not least of which were community expectations about
standards of behaviour by parliamentarians. The Committee indicated it proposed
to review the question of a code of ethics for members and report back to the
House.
The Committee had not completed its consideration of this
matter at the conclusion of the 42nd Parliament.
As part of the process of negotiations for a minority
government in the 43rd Parliament, agreements were made for a code of conduct
to be implemented for Federal Parliamentarians and for the appointment of a
Parliamentary Integrity Commissioner who would have responsibility for, among
other things, upholding the code and investigating complaints in relation to
the code.
The House of Representatives Committee of Privileges and
Members’ Interests was tasked with producing such a code and developing plans
for a Parliamentary Integrity Commissioner. By November 2011, the Committee had
explored a wide range of options on a code and its implementation and had taken
evidence from other parliaments and experts around the world. However they
presented their findings as a 77 page discussion paper, rather than
recommendations for a code. Their findings were not adopted.
A Senate committee also investigated options for a code of
conduct and reported in 2012. However they concluded that “[t]he committee is
not convinced that there is any objective evidence showing that the adoption of
an aspirational, principles-based code has improved the perceptions of
parliaments and parliamentarians in other jurisdictions. Accordingly, the
committee does not recommend that the Senate go down that path.”
Recent calls for a Code of Conduct
Six years after the discussion paper was published, Senator
Pauline Hanson wore a burka into the Senate. Her deeply disrespectful act was
roundly criticised, but without a code of conduct, there were few consequences.
At that time, the Greens proposed a code of conduct on respecting cultural
diversity. That code was referred to the Procedures Committee and was
ultimately prevented from progressing any further by Labor and Liberal
Senators.
In February of 2018 Federal Independent Member for Indi,
Cathy McGowan tabled a motion in the House of Representatives aimed at
encouraging a discussion about the introduction of a Code of Conduct in the
Australian Parliament.
The motion, seconded by the Member for Denison, Andrew
Wilkie, asked the Privileges and Members’ Interests Committee to develop a code
of conduct for Members of Parliament and their staff. It took into account the
previously endorsed draft code of conduct contained in a discussion paper to
the House of Representatives in 2011. However it was not selected for debate
and is still sitting on the notice paper.
The Greens subsequently introduced a motion in the Senate in
late 2018 with the intention of creating a Federal Parliamentary Code of
Conduct. The motion sought to:
- Uphold the honour of public office;
- Respect and value the First Nations peoples of Australia;
- Respect Australians’ diversity;
- Respect gender equality and diversity; and
- Reject discriminatory and exclusionary statements.
Again, the motion was referred to the Procedures Committee
and it is in relation to the committee’s report on this most recent referral
that the Greens have produced this dissenting report.
It is the view of the Australian Greens that the committee’s
conclusions do not take into account the strength of public opinion in favour
of a code of conduct in the wake of the terrorist attack in Christchurch.
Public support for a Code of Conduct
The Islamic Council of Victoria, along with another 19
Muslim organisations, wrote to the leaders of the major parties in early 2019
calling for the adoption of a parliamentary code of conduct;
“As Australians we expect there
to be vigorous debate in the parliament about the policies and issues that
impact our nation. Lately however we have seen a spike in the politics of fear
in federal parliament. We are concerned that the damaging rhetoric our
political leaders are engaging with is driving a wedge between sections of our
community. It is happening abroad with damaging consequences and Australia must
resist this horrible trend. That is why we support the introduction of a Code
of Conduct for all Parliamentarians, so that our parliamentarians can no longer
use race baiting and fear mongering as a tactic for their own short-term
political gains.”
Following the Christchurch massacre and the deeply offensive
comments made by Senator Fraser Anning, the ICV began a petition in support of
the calls for a code of conduct. As of April 2nd 2019, the petition had
attracted more than 45,000 signatures.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is the view of the Australian Greens that
there is a compelling need for a Parliamentary Code of Conduct, as well as
clear public support. Simply reminding members of Parliament that they should
avoid using “unparliamentary epithets in debate” will do little to establish a
set of clear expectations and standards, nor will it provide the reporting and
enforcement mechanisms required to uphold such standards.
Senator Rachel Siewert
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