Tough new plan for MPs behaving badly
Written by admin on August 21, 2024
MPs could face tough new penalties for bad behaviour under a government Bill to be introduced to parliament on Wednesday.
The legislation, based on recommendations in the Set the Standard report released in 2021, would establish a parliamentary standards commission charged with independently investigating alleged breaches of parliamentary standards.
The watchdog would recommend penalties to parliament, but ultimately the decision would lie with parliamentarians.
The government has hailed the Bill as crucial to stamping out “bullying, harassment, sexual harassment and assault, and discrimination” in Parliament House.
“The 2021 Set the Standard report laid bare the serious issues of bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault at parliamentary workplaces,” Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said in a statement.
She said the Albanese government had “been working hard to put the systems in place so that people can raise workplace complaints, and when complaints are substantiated, that both staff and parliamentarians are held to account for their behaviour”.
Penalties would vary, but among the harshest are fines of up to 5 per cent of MPs’ salaries, ejection from parliamentary committees and suspension from parliament.
But not all are convinced, with some MPs voicing concern the proposed commission could be weaponised.
Independent MP Rebekha Sharkie said she thought it was “a great idea” in principle, but she wanted to see the text before going all in.
“Obviously, I want to see the legislation and make sure that it’s not going to be used (or) politicised and used as a weapon, but I think most places of work have a code of conduct that all employees adhere to, I don’t think the parliament should be any different,” she told the ABC on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, senator Matt Canavan dismissed a 5 per cent fine as a deterrent for misbehaviour and said the standards commission would invite dismissed “frivolous and vexatious complaints”.
“I mean, $11,000 is not going to be enough to deter badly behaving people,” he told Nine’s Today.
“But the name-and-shame powers will be clearly enough to encourage a whole lot of frivolous and vexatious complaints just to try and take down your political opponents.”
Speaking to the ABC, Senator Gallagher brushed off concerns the commission could be weaponised, saying it would make disciplinary recommendations to the privileges committee.
“These committees are often very senior members of respective political parties,” she said.
“They deal with difficult matters all the time and they haven’t traditionally operated in a partisan way at all.”
Senator Gallagher said the designed process fostered transparency.
“I think it’s through the transparency of needing to report back to the parliament, that it will be clear that they’ve had to respond to the (independent parliamentary standards commission) report,” she said.
The Set the Standard report was commissioned after the alleged rape of former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins in 2019.
More to come
