Members of the crossbench have accused the Albanese government of teaming with the Coalition to undermine the newly legislated independent body to monitor misconduct by politicians.

The proposed creation of an Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission (IPSC) was announced earlier in the year after a 2022 report, called Set the Standard, recommended a body capable of workplace investigations and placing sanctions under codes of behaviour for politicians and their staff.

Although the legislation has created a framework for that body, any serious sanctions beyond training, professional development plans or behaviour agreements will be decided by the privileges committee helmed by Labor and Liberal MPs.

Zoe Daniel, the independent MP for Goldstein, said that Australians are “already cynical about politics” and this decision will not help regain trust in politics.

“The way that government has attempted to shift oversight of the sanctions process related to the IPSC will only deepen that cynicism,” Daniel said in a statement to The New Daily.

“It fundamentally undermines the transparency of decisions, the most crucial element required to instil trust in the whole process.”

Attempted amendments

Under the legislation, the IPSC will be allowed to investigate behaviour and impose ‘non-parliamentary’ sanctions on federal politicians and staff, although any ‘parliamentary’ sanctions will determined by the privileges committee.

‘Parliamentary’ sanctions include fines between 2 and 5 per cent of an MP or senator’s annual wage, suspension or removal from committees.

Daniel said that Labor and the LNP are “determined to work all angles to ensure that access to power in the parliamentary process is a cosy table for two”.

“At the core of the IPSC legislation is the idea that transparency is fundamental to holding politicians to account for their behaviour,” she said.

“If we’re backsliding on this foundational principle at the first asking by undermining the independent processes that should underpin the IPSC, it will struggle for credibility.”

Zoe Daniel said that the watered-down legislation could challenge the credibility of the IPSC. Photo: AAP

Members of the crossbench, including the Greens and teal independents, attempted to introduce amendments, but were shut out by the government and opposition.

Jane Hume, Liberal senator for Victoria, said it was important that “this reform places both the power and the responsibility for change in our hands”.

“It is incumbent on us then to police and protect ourselves,” she said.

“I believe that this bill manages to get the balance right.”

Crossbench frustrations

The Greens also expressed frustration with the watered-down bill, with Senator Mehreen Faruqi comparing placing serious sanctions in the hands of the privileges committee to putting “Dracula in charge of the blood bank”.

“The makeup of the privileges committees, and the complete lack of diversity on those, is a real issue. They are all white,” she said in Parliament.

“How do we expect trust in decision making and issuing sanctions from committees that are so unrepresentative when it comes to the experience of unacceptable behaviours, of bullying, racism and discrimination that we all want to end?”