November 23, 2022 — 12.01am
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Australia’s patchwork of whistleblower laws must be overhauled and a single authority set up to enforce protections, transparency advocates have argued, as the Parliament prepares to pass laws to create a federal anti-corruption watchdog.
The Albanese government gave ground on its landmark bill to establish a National Anti-Corruption Commission on Tuesday, agreeing to beef up protections for journalists and their sources and requiring surveillance warrants to be issued by federal superior court judges rather than members of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
The legislation is expected to pass through both houses by the end of the sitting fortnight with Coalition and crossbench support, paving the way for the watchdog to be up and running by mid-2023.
But its passage will be preceded by a lengthy debate over amendments. As the lower house prepared to sit late on Tuesday night to debate the bill, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the government had “listened to concerns from the media sector and their advocates” with its amendments to expand protections for journalists.
But it will resist attempts by Independent MP Helen Haines, ACT Senator David Pocock and the Greens to scrap a controversial provision requiring hearings to be held in private unless there are “exceptional circumstances”, teaming up with the Opposition to defeat the crossbench.
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