Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus is warning politicians and officials to "be afraid" of the powers the federal government wants to give its new anti-corruption commission.
The specific details remain under wraps, with the nation's first law officer promising all will be revealed once he introduces legislation to parliament on Wednesday.
Mr Dreyfus is promising the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) will have broad powers to investigate corruption, and significant discretion to decide what inquiries it launches and how it investigates matters.
"People should be afraid if they've been engaged in corrupt activities," the attorney-general said.
"The question of how the commission decides which matters are to be investigated, how it will devote its resources — which are not limitless — that will be a matter for the commission to decide."
Labor had been highly critical of the Coalition's model for a Commonwealth integrity commission, ever since it was first unveiled in December 2018.
The central argument was that it was highly secretive and lacked the sufficient powers and autonomy to properly tackle corruption.
Mr Dreyfus promised Labor's proposed watchdog would have a broad jurisdiction to investigate "serious or systemic corruption" across the Commonwealth government and public service.
The commission would be able to hold public hearings — a contentious issue during the years of debate on the merits of an anti-corruption watchdog — in "exceptional circumstances" that were in the public interest.
"Every investigation that this commission undertakes is going to be in the public interest, but this is a different question that the commission is going to be asked to consider — which is whether the particular hearing should be held in public," Mr Dreyfus said.
"I expect that most of the hearings conducted by this federal commission, just as for the state and territory commissions … most of its hearings will be conducted in private.
"But where there are exceptional circumstances and the commission determines that it's in the public interest that a hearing being public, then it's going to be in public — but that's a matter for the commission. It will decide."
The Centre for Public Integrity was quick to question that wording.
"Public hearings are a crucial part of investigating corruption. Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and many corruption investigations would not be successful without public hearings," the centre's chair Anthony Whealy KC said.
"In legal terms, 'exceptional circumstances' has no real meaning and it will act as a brake on the public interest test."
Independent MP Helen Haines, who had her own bill for an anti-corruption commission before parliament, also picked up on the phrasing.
"That will be the first clause I look at tomorrow when the bill lands," she said.
"I think it's important to say that there should be no carve outs, no special rules for anybody, one set of rules for all."
The commission will receive funding of $262 million over four years, with a parliamentary committee to be established to oversee its budget and provide advice on its operations.
'Not appropriate' for AG to make referrals
Labor spent much of the 2022 election campaign highlighting alleged pork-barrelling by the former Coalition government, including the so-called "sports rorts" saga and the commuter car parks program, as reasons why a corruption watchdog was needed.
Mr Dreyfus was asked whether the government would be referring former ministers and public servants to the anti-corruption commission over those affairs.
"I don't think that as the minister responsible for this commission, once it is established, that it's appropriate for me to be making referrals to this commission," he replied.
"I've said before, the commission will be able to receive referrals from any source."
Crossbench MPs who had been campaigning on an integrity platform for years had also raised concerns about whether third parties – such as businesses accused of bribing officials — would be included in the commission's scope.
"The commission will be able to investigate third parties whose conduct influences the improper conduct of a public official, or the failure by a public official to act impartially — those matters will be available to the commission to investigate," the attorney-general said.
"But the finding goes to corrupt conduct by someone involved in the government."
Whistleblower protections will also be included in the legislation, aside from broader reforms to whistleblower shields the attorney-general is pursuing.
