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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-05-12 Daily Xml
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INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION BILL

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (16:15): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to establish the Independent Commission Against Corruption; to define its functions and powers; and for other purposes. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (16:15): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

To the delight of all my colleagues, I advise that I will not be speaking for very long on this bill at this point. I make that point particularly for the benefit of the Hon. Mr Lucas, who loves everyone else to be quick, but when he gets to his feet he takes hours.

I am reintroducing this bill because Family First strongly believes that a bill should be introduced in South Australia to establish an independent commission against corruption. This belief is based on the fact that we have had so much representation from members of the South Australian community and also that we see all states, other than Victoria and South Australia, with an ICAC. No matter how you dress it up, gloss over it or paint it, arguing that there should be a national ICAC will not work. I know that other states, such as Queensland, are assessing their own ICACs to review and strengthen them, and so on.

I introduced this bill in the last session, and I am now reintroducing the measure. To save time at this point, I refer honourable members to my contribution on 4 March 2009 (page 1487 of Hansard), when introducing the bill. I also refer honourable members to my summing up comments and indeed, the comments of other honourable members (and I thank them for those comments) on 15 July 2009 (page 2908 of Hansard).

I note that that bill passed in this chamber on 14 October 2009 but, unfortunately, it was held up by the government and did not progress through the House of Assembly. I am confident that Labor is slowly but surely coming around. If we can get a bill through this chamber again this session, hopefully with the support of the cross-benches in the lower house, and with the support of the media and pretty well everyone else in this state other than the government, the government will come around completely and we will see an ICAC established in South Australia.

Premier Rann and the new Attorney-General are supposedly pushing for a national ICAC, yet that has been received with disinterest by the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG), as my colleague said. I am not sure where it was on the Notice Paper, but I reckon it was a last-minute urgent email. In fact, I wonder whether it even got on the notice paper. My experience with SCAG is that you have to be well ahead to get anything on SCAG. It does not move fast; it moves at about the pace of a snail. It is the slowest of all the ministerial council meetings.

I suggest that, because most jurisdictions already have their own, and are happy with that and like their independence, they will not be willing to change because one Labor state (namely, South Australia) does not want to grasp the nettle and deal with the issue at a state level.

The Hon. S.G. Wade interjecting:

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: It's a smokescreen; I've got that written here. In other words, it is an excuse to do nothing. With those remarks, I commend the bill to the council. I look forward to the speedy passage of the bill through the council so that we can put pressure on the government in the House of Assembly.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. T.J. Stephens.

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