Committee on the Independent Commission Against Corruption

The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: I report the receipt of the following message from the Legislative Council:

Mr Speaker

The Legislative Council desires to inform the Legislative Assembly that it has this day agreed to the following resolution:

(1) That the Committee on the Independent Commission Against Corruption, which is a joint statutory committee, inquire into and report on the effectiveness of current laws, practices and procedures in protecting whistleblower employees who make allegations against government officials and members of Parliament.

(2) That this House request the Legislative Assembly to agree to a similar resolution.

Legislative Council Peter Primrose
26 June 2008 President

Mr JOHN AQUILINA (Riverstone—Leader of the House) [4.12 p.m.]: I move:

That:

(1) The Committee on the Independent Commission Against Corruption, which is a joint statutory committee, inquire into and report on the effectiveness of current laws, practices and procedures in protecting whistleblower employees who make allegations against government officials and members of Parliament.

(2) A message be sent informing the Legislative Council of the resolution.

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI (Murrumbidgee) [4.13 p.m.]: The Opposition will not oppose this motion because it requested the establishment of this inquiry in the upper House.

[Interruption]

Government members know what this inquiry is about. The Opposition sought to establish an inquiry in the upper House, where the Government does not have the numbers. However, Reverend the Hon. Fred Nile and members of the Shooters Party lent their support to the Government and the matter will now be referred to a joint committee—a committee comprising both Government and Opposition members—where the Government has the numbers. This inquiry is about protecting whistleblowers—people who have the courage to stand up and tell the truth when things go wrong. The Minister for Fair Trading can make all the noises she wants , but this committee will inquire into the treatment of Jillian Snedden—a loyal employee who worked tirelessly for the Labor Party.

When Jillian Snedden assisted police in their inquiries and investigations into somebody in the Labor Party—somebody who has since been convicted of child sex offences—she was put in the freezer, not just by the Parliament but by the Labor Party. Reverend the Hon. Fred Nile and the two members of the Shooters Party supported this reference to the Committee on the Independent Commission Against Corruption and that committee, with a majority of Government members, will now inquire into what happened to Mrs Snedden. I cannot believe that a minister of religion would lend support to such a motion. One of the victims who suffered at the hands of Mr Orkopoulos wanted an upper House inquiry.

Jillian Snedden, Bryce Gaudry and the brother of Milton Orkopoulos also wanted this inquiry to be conducted independently by an upper House committee, where the two major parties do not have a majority. They wanted this inquiry to be independent and to be run properly. Will the Committee on the Independent Commission Against Corruption call the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, Mr Grove, the member for Riverstone and former Speaker, Mr John Aquilina, and the current Speaker, Mr Richard Torbay, to give evidence? The challenge for that committee is to call those people to give evidence. Members of the Legislative Assembly will be able to take part in the inquiry before the joint committee.

If the chair of that committee, the member for Maitland, and the other Labor members on that committee are fair dinkum about getting to the bottom of what happened to Mrs Snedden and how she was persecuted for assisting police, they should call those members to give evidence. If they are fair dinkum the challenge is for them to call those people as witnesses. There are plenty of examples of whistleblowers who should be and who need to be called to give evidence to that inquiry.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Coffs Harbour will cease interjecting.

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: Another person who should be called to give evidence is Melissa Batten, a whistleblower who recently appeared on A Current Affair. Melissa Batten was treated badly by—

The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! The member for Murrumbidgee will direct his remarks through the Chair.

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: I apologise. Melissa Batten and the staff at Iguanas should be called to give evidence, as should some of the staff members of Mr Della Bosca and Ms Neal who were at Iguanas that night. The inquiry should investigate whether Melissa Batten and the staff at Iguanas were bullied by Government members or by members of staff in Mr Della Bosca's office, and they should be asked whether they received any communication from the Premier's office. The Premier denied that had happened but this inquiry could get to the bottom of it all. It will be a challenge for the member for Maitland and other Labor members. Will they have the courage to call those people as witnesses? If this is to be a joint parliamentary committee they should have the courage to do that and to conduct the inquiry properly.

I have just been reminded of Mark Aarons. Members might recall that Mark Aarons blew the whistle on the Paul Gibson affair and, coincidentally, he was dismissed the next day. Somebody in the Labor Party who was held in high regard was dismissed the day after he provided information to the Premier relating to allegations about Mr Gibson. The allegations had been dealt with but he was sacked the day after. When we consider the way in which this Government treats whistleblowers it is imperative for Mark Aarons to be called as a witness, otherwise this committee will be doomed to failure.

I said earlier that the Opposition will not oppose the motion, but these issues have to be resolved. If Mark Aarons is not called as a witness I will ask Opposition members in September to conduct an upper House inquiry to resolve these issues—a committee on which the Government does not have the numbers. This will be a challenge for the member for Maitland as he will cop political flak from members on his side of politics. However, I believe that as a former Crown prosecutor he is a man of integrity—

Mr Frank Terenzini: Come on, Adrian. Get on with it.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI: It will be a challenge for the member for Maitland. I hope that he rises to the challenge.

Mr JOHN AQUILINA (Riverstone—Leader of the House) [4.17 p.m.], in reply: I am sure that members have every confidence that the member for Maitland will rise to any challenge with which he is confronted. Four-fifths of the contribution of the member for Murrumbidgee was irrelevant as he spoke about matters that are not the subject of this inquiry. I am sure that the committee will carry out its functions with transparency and the utmost integrity, which is what occurs in this Parliament. While we are on the subject of members being called to give reports to the committee, the committee might consider calling the member for Murrumbidgee and asking him all he knows about this matter.

Question—That the motion be agreed to—put and resolved in the affirmative.

Motion agreed to.