From The Australian:
The government showed it was willing to make a big concession in the Senate last night to get its way on sharpening the oversight of the union movement.
The biggest single compromise was a far-reaching agreement with Nick Xenophon that could be just as important as the union bill itself. The changes to whistleblower laws could make it easier to shine a light on union, corporate or government wrongdoing.
The government agreed to toughen the whistleblower measures in the ROC bill so that union members or industry group employees had more protection when speaking out against corrupt leaders. But it went much further in a side agreement.
There are six parts to the government commitment. It will support a parliamentary inquiry into whistleblower laws so that the protections in the ROC bill can be extended across the government and corporate sectors. It will ensure that compensation for whistleblowers will be part of this. It will make sure the inquiry is set up by Wednesday 30 November and will report by the end of June next year. The government will also set up an “expert advisory panel” to develop draft legislation to act on the report.
The fifth commitment sets a deadline for Malcolm Turnbull. The whistleblower legislation is to be introduced into parliament by December next year and has to support, at a minimum, the standards now set in the ROC bill.
And the sixth commitment is the ultimate test, if Xenophon’s statement to the Senate on Monday night is any guide. “The government will commit to support enhancements to whistleblower protections and commit to a parliamentary vote on the legislation no later than 30 June 2018,” he told the upper house.
The Australian Building and Construction Commission is a worthwhile reform and so is anything that helps push back rampant Australian corruption. Some good news for once!
