In the election campaign the need for an integrity commission has been a minor issue. Many independent candidates have supported it, but the major parties seem to have concluded that it will not significantly shape the way people vote. Yet given the evidence of a lack of integrity in behaviour by and within governing parties both at Federal and State level, the nature and importance of integrity in the processes of government deserve reflection.
Integrity has to do with consistency in relationships. A person of integrity will behave with due respect in all their relationships – within family, workplace and other institutions, in the handling of money, in gifts, in decision making. In government, due respect will characterise the relationships between members of parliament, their staff and their constituents. In these relationships and in the making of policy, administration and in the allocation of money, integrity means that the decisive focus is on the good of the Australian people. It demands that this focus will override self and Party interest, and that decisions are subject and transparent to review.
Although much of the evidence remains untested, the number of people who have accused politicians, including ministers, of sexual harassment and bullying, the attempts in the media to discredit the complainants, and the slowness of party leaders to deal with these complaints, suggest a culture of male entitlement, an imbalance of power in which women pay a heavy price for demanding respect.
There is also frequent circumstantial evidence that appointment to public positions and the awarding of public appointments and contracts favours people with connection with the ruling Party. Such appointments and contracts have bypassed the recommendations of public committees and been awarded without the normal processes of merits review and of tendering.
Election time always highlights projects funding allocated to seats that are marginal or are held by politicians whom the governments need to placate. Such projects often breach Governments’ own regulations for such funding. Even politicians with a reputation for high ethical standards seem to regard this as one of the perks of office. This practice has become so blatant and shameless that the Guardian newspaper can publish Pork-o-meter without meeting protests of hurt innocence.
Finally, reporting of the internal affairs of parties contains many accusations of branch stacking, factional backstabbing, of disregard of constitutional rules, and of the use of government funds for party political campaigns.
'If the recent evidence for lack of integrity