SUBJECTS: Unprecedented Government decision to vote against the Speaker's recommendation to refer Christian Porter to the Privileges Committee.
 
NADIA MITSOPOULOS, HOST:  So, what does this all say about government accountability? Well, I spoke to Anthony Albanese, the Federal Opposition Leader about this earlier this morning.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Good morning. Good to be with you.
 
MITSOPOULOS: Can you quickly explain what your party tried to do in the Parliament yesterday?
 
ALBANESE: Well, the Speaker had received a referral about Christian Porter and the non-disclosure of donors of up to a million dollars for his private legal matter against the ABC. And he had to consider whether it was a potential contempt of Parliament by being in breach of the register that says Members of Parliament can't receive private donations without declaring them. And so he gave consideration to that, he reported to the Parliament that there was a prima facie case that is worth looking at, a prima facie case of contempt or breach of privilege has been made out. Now normally, when the Speaker does that, and grant precedence, legal term for it to be referred to the Privileges Committee, then that just happens as a matter of course. The Privileges Committee has a look at it, and then reports to the Parliament. What the Government did yesterday was reject the Speaker's recommendation in effect, and just use its majority on the floor of the House of Representatives to even stop this issue being examined by the Privileges Committee.
 
MITSOPOULOS: Is it unusual for a vote against the recommendation of the Speaker?
 
ALBANESE: It has never happened in 120 years. Since Federation this is the first time ever that it has happened. Because it doesn't, of course, the Speaker's decision doesn't represent a final determination. It's just that a prima facie case has been made. And normally, that would just as a matter of course then be referred to the Privileges Committee, which is what we thought would happen. Quite clearly the Register of Pecuniary Interests exists for a very good reason. So that Members of Parliament can't be receiving money from private donors who might have a conflict of interest, could be a foreign government interest, it could be anything at all. If you are allowed to hide behind, saying well, "I don't know where the money came from", with these so-called ‘blind trust’, which is nothing of the sort, then the register may as well not exist. And it's there as a primary blockage to corruption in our political system. So that Members of Parliament, if they do receive private assistance or gifts, people know about it.
 
MITSOPOULOS: On ABC Radio Perth and WA. You are listening to the Opposition Leader, Anthony Albanese. What do you think about what the Government did yesterday? 1300 222 720. What does it say about accountability, about transparency? I'd like to hear from you. On the point of the Speaker, he can't direct the Parliament to vote in a certain way. So, he still has to allow the Parliament to decide what to do. And that's what happened, the votes landed the way they did.
 
ALBANESE: That's correct. But if you have the issue of privilege determined by just who has a majority on the floor of the House of Representatives, then that means that governments will never be held to account. And that's why the Speaker made a decision, it's a Speaker from the Government ranks, of course, but he was appointed to the role unanimously by the Parliament. He's someone who takes his obligations seriously. And it's just a pity that the Government don't take their obligations seriously. This was extraordinary action that has never happened since Federation back in 1901. And that's why it was quite a shock that the Leader of Government Business in the House, Peter Dutton, moved the resolution then every single Government member voted essentially to block any scrutiny and to say, "well, it doesn't matter". If you take this logic to its conclusion, then anyone can hide behind donations for any matters for any amount, and no one will ever know about it.
 
MITSOPOULOS: Okay. The Prime Minister though says a broad inquiry will address the issue and the Privileges Committee has been asked to clarify the rules around the use of anonymous and crowdfunded donations. Just have a listen to the Prime Minister speaking on Nine Radio this morning.
 
ALBANESE: There are many other Members of Parliament who have been in this situation about how they fund legal costs to pursue defamation actions. That's not just one Member, there are other Members and we've got to get the rules clear.
 
MITSOPOULOS: So, isn't a broad inquiry better than no inquiry?
 
ALBANESE: No, it's a nonsense. It's a fig leaf to hide behind. And the example that was used was Sarah Hanson-Young, who had a GoFundMe page. A GoFundMe page is there on the internet, people can see who's donated what. It was done for the Senate that have different processes. This is the person who at the time was a Cabinet Minister in the Government, in a position to make decisions affecting literally billions of dollars. And prior to being in charge of Industry, he was the first law officer of the land as the Attorney-General. Now, no one made him take the action against the ABC. On the First of June, he said that he'd withdraw from the defamation case, and he didn't disclose until the 13th of September. Now, the thing is here about this so called blind trust is how did people know how to donate to this obscurely named trust fund? The idea that, that Mr Porter does not know where this money comes from just defies belief. The idea that people out there at random found a bank account, somehow through the iCloud or something, to donate up to, we're talking about costs of up to a million dollars. We don't know how much was donated, we don't know who by and this is a very serious issue. And the Prime Minister once again, tried to hide behind a look over there moment. It is very clear that when the Speaker makes a determination, as he has, that it should be looked at by the Privileges Committee. It's extraordinary that it's been blocked.
 
MITSOPOULOS: ABC Radio Perth and WA, you are listening to the Opposition Leader, Anthony Albanese. So, if the Privileges Committee looks specifically at Christian Porter and that trust, as you would like, would that force him to reveal who those donors are? They would have the power to force that information?
 
ALBANESE: Well, it would be up to the Privileges Committee, of course. They would have the power to make recommendations to the Parliament that the normal processes, which are that if you receive money, you declare it. That either exists or it doesn't. This is a private legal matter, which was withdrawn by Mr Porter. And this whole exercise of Christian Porter and the protection of him over a period of time has been a massive distraction for the Government. Mr Porter chose to put himself in this position by taking the legal action against the ABC. And now he's completely undermining the disclosure provisions that are there to stop corruption in the Parliament. And it's no wonder that more than 1000 days ago, this Government promised that they'd be a National Anti-Corruption Body. Mr Porter was in charge of that. Of course, we haven't seen any progress on that. And it's very clear why that's the case and that it will take a Labor Government to have a National Integrity Commission that exists, of course, in every state and territory have integrity bodies around the country, every parliament, every government, except for our National Government, and we need to restore faith in our political processes. I think people go into Parliament and run as candidates overwhelmingly across the board. Labor, Liberal, National, minor parties, for all the right reasons. But the truth is that there is a lot of cynicism out there about people's motives. And this whole scenario whereby someone receiving private donations for a private legal matter and won't say where the money came from. This could all be cleared up if Mr Porter just tabled where any donations for this fund, above the declarable amount which is $300, came from?
 
MITSOPOULOS: I'll leave it there. I do appreciate your time. Good to talk to you.
 
ALBANESE: Thanks for having me on the program.
 
ENDS