Attorney-General Michaelia Cash has confirmed the federal government won’t proceed with its proposed anti-corruption commission before the federal election.
Her statement appears to address the apparent confusion between herself and Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week, who didn't rule out an anti-corruption body before the May election.
Labor Senator Murray Watt asked Senator Cash during a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday to clarify whether the government's proposed legislation would go ahead.
Senator Cash replied the government would not be progressing the legislation “at this stage” due to a lack of support for its proposed integrity model.
“To be very clear and I have consistently made this clear the bill that we are able to take forward,” she replied.
“At this point in time we will not be proceeding with it because you do not support it.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison initially made the commitment for a National Integrity Commission in 2018.
He had told reporters "we'll see" on 7 February ahead of the sitting week, when asked if he could secure passage of his election promise.
But Senator Cash's latest intervention appears to rule out the prospect an integrity commission could be introduced to parliament before the election is held in May.
“We have always said we would require bipartisan support,” she said.
There are limited sitting days to be held before an election is called, including just two left in the upper house to formally pass legislation.
The Morrison government has proposed a commission with two divisions – one for public officials and one for politicians - which it has released for public consultation.
But critics have raised concerns it would not hold public hearings for investigations into politicians and would not be able to launch its own inquiries or act on anonymous tips from the public.
The Centre for Public Integrity - a group of former judges and prosecutors - is among those to reject the Commonwealth Integrity Commission (CIC) consultation draft as not fit for purpose.
Labor is promising a National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) with the power to hold public hearings and the ability to issue findings of fact and findings of corrupt conduct in public reports.
Greens Senator Larissa Waters pressed officials on whether the final version of the proposed bill had changed through consultation, questioning whether any feedback had been taken on board.
The deputy secretary for integrity for the Attorney-General's Department said the models were the same.
"The model that is publicly available is the model that was released for consultation and that is the government's model," Sarah Chidgey told a Senate committee.
Senator Cash said the government considered the feedback and "the model we have is the right model".
“At this point in time there is no support for our bill,” she said.
The government has repeatedly shut down moves by the crossbench to debate a federal integrity commission in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
It lost a vote in the lower house twice after Liberal MP Bridget Archer crossed the floor to force a discussion on the issue, but the debate did not proceed because there wasn't an absolute majority.
With AAP.
