An Ipsos poll from last year found that, in Australia, doctors are rated as the most trustworthy professionals, followed by scientists and teachers. You all know where this is going: at the bottom of the league table sit politicians, who beat bankers and marketeers for the last spot. It is with some irony then that I have left the most trusted profession for one that is least trusted, and yet the people of Higgins put me here, in part, because I came from that sphere—and that's because integrity matters. Politicians consistently languish at the bottom of the trust index because, for too long, they have gotten away with bad behaviour, with the misuse of power for personal gain.

The misuse of public funds reached a crescendo, and the trust deficit bottomed out, under the last government: sports rorts; car park rorts, also known as the $3 billion Urban Congestion Fund; the Leppington Triangle; regional rorts of $200 million; pool rorts, where a Sydney pool received $10 million from a $150 million fund meant for regional communities; the blind trust; a secret deal with a colleague to garner support for climate action with a cheque of around $2 billion underwritten by the Australian people, without their consent; $444 million to a little-known private foundation called the Great Barrier Reef Authority, which had six staff at the time and, coincidentally, also had links to resources companies; and the disregard of legal caution around robodebt. The whole dirty saga culminated in the ministries miniseries of the former PM, who saw Australia go down a slippery slope from democracy towards autocracy. It always starts small and then it snowballs. The list is by no means exhaustive. I reckon it's the tip of an iceberg. So did my constituents from South Yarra, Windsor, Prahran, Toorak, Armadale, Kooyong, Malvern, Malvern East, Glen Iris, Murrumbeena, Ashburton, Carnegie and Ormond. They all wanted action on integrity. They have had enough of the colour-coded spreadsheets, excuses, doublespeak, smirks and shirking of responsibility. They understand corruption is corrosive and a denial of resources to those in need, like the footy kids in my electorate who need decent sports change rooms or our First Peoples who live in squalor. They understand that nepotism in handouts is bad for the economy because it distorts the free market. Yet it escalated under those opposite because there were no repercussions.

The NACC is the cornerstone of the Albanese government's overarching integrity agenda. It will be a legacy reform, and it is a key election commitment that, unlike the previous government, we are actually delivering. It will have the following features crafted in collaboration, as is the hallmark of our government, with eminent legal and integrity experts. It will have all the powers of a standing royal commission. It will have broad jurisdiction to investigate anyone from a minister down to a staffer, a contractor or an agency. It will be independent, with commissioners held at arm's length from government, overseen by a multipartisan joint parliamentary committee of 12 members as well as an inspector. The commission will be able to initiate investigations under their own steam in response to referrals from anyone. It will have retrospective powers because corruption is like a web; you don't know where or how far it goes until you start digging.

The commission will have public hearings held in exceptional circumstances where it is in the public's interest to do so. I know this has been a point of contention, but I draw upon the most trusted profession—doctors—as a benchmark. Investigating misconduct amongst doctors is held behind closed doors, by the regulator, yet trust levels and quality have been maintained. This provision will mitigate against undue reputational harm while protecting the welfare and wellbeing of parliamentarians and their staffers.

Elected representatives have families. We live in communities, and I never want to see anyone here harmed or self-harm. Am I being too precious? I don't think so. Once someone is harmed or dies, it is too late for handwringing. We also want to avoid compromising any future criminal trials. We think we have the settings right here, balancing the benefits of holding public hearings against potential negative impacts. As a doctor, I never want to see suicide or attempted suicide by anyone in this House; I have seen enough of that in my career.

Search or surveillance warrants will be issued by judges, not politicised organisations stacked with cronies. The NACC will be properly funded, providing $90 million more than the former government committed, allowing for approximately 260 staff, and that budget will be reviewed by a joint parliamentary committee every three years to ensure the NACC is appropriately funded. The commission will undertake educational activities as part of its preventative work. It will have safeguards to protect journalists and their sources. For too long the media have been the default anticorruption body in Australia, with influence but no real teeth. Whistleblowers will be dealt with by protecting them from adverse consequences, including criminal offences, but protections will be strengthened through other legislation off the back of the unfulfilled Moss review from many years ago.

I was nothing as a doctor without trust. The same can be said for our leaders. Trust is foundational to the social contract between leaders and the people. Like doctors, we in this House are nothing without it. Fortunately, at this election, the Australian people renovated this House by letting the sunlight in. All I want for Christmas is a NACC with teeth and reach. It will be a gift from the Albanese government to the Australian people under the Christmas tree. But, unlike a lot of presents that are going to be given this year, this one will keep giving for generations to come.

NB: The National Anti-Corruption Commission Bill 2022 has passed both Houses of Parliament.