Face of Nation : A Senate committee has called for a fresh investigation into whether former Liberal ministers Christopher Pyne and Julie Bishop breached rules around post-political jobs.
The Labor-chaired committee’s sole recommendation, released on Thursday, was for Prime Minister Scott Morrison to ask incoming department secretary Phil Gaetjens to reopen the probe.
Former foreign minister Ms Bishop has joined the board of aid contractor Palladium. The standards prevent former ministers from lobbying governments for 18 months after their tenure or revealing secret information they learned while in cabinet. Both deny breaking any rules.
Mr Pyne, the former defence minister, has joined a lobbying consultancy – set up by his former chief of staff – which includes a role with services giant EY.
The standards prevent former ministers from lobbying governments for 18 months after their tenure or revealing secret information they learned while in cabinet. Both deny breaking any rules. Former Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet head Martin Parkinson’s investigation found the pair hadn’t breached ministerial standards.
While the committee’s report wasn’t critical of Dr Parkinson, it did take aim at Mr Morrison’s expectations of the investigation. The report found the prime minister’s response indicated he found nothing wrong with the post-political roles or he was unwilling to exercise his authority to check if obligations had been breached.
“The prime minister should hold his ministers to account. The Australian people should hold him to account if he does not,” Labor senator and committee chair Jenny McAllister wrote.
Liberal senator James Paterson, who co-chaired the inquiry, said government committee members found there was no evidence Mr Pyne or Ms Bishop breached ministerial standards. “The absence of any evidence of non-compliance put forward in the majority report demonstrates the partisan nature of its findings,” he wrote in a dissenting report.
Greens senator Larissa Waters said the “cooling-off” period for former ministers should be extended from 18 months to five years. She also argued for effective sanctions to deter them from taking on lobbying and advocacy roles in breach of the standards.
In additional comments, crossbench senator Rex Patrick called for EY to be banned from tendering for defence work for 18 months from the time Mr Pyne joined the firm. He also wants the ministerial standards to be legally enforceable, either through legislation or regulation.
