At a glance

FIRST TERM WINS

A strong voice for the public service

Since being elected, I’ve been a vocal advocate for rebuilding and strengthening the Australian Public Service. Because a capable, independent public service is essential to delivering the smart, fair policies Australians deserve.

That means supporting the government’s changes to address the damage left by the previous government, including a 50,000-strong shadow workforce of outsourced labour-hire contractors and consultants that undermined both capacity and accountability.

It also means calling out unjustified, ideological attacks from Peter Dutton and the Coalition, including their plans to:

• Shrink the size of the public service by 41,000 jobs
• Ban working from home  despite its proven value to productivity and work-life balance - a policy they have since backflipped on
• Undermine public servants with baseless, politically motivated attacks
  

I’ve stood up publicly to defend our public service from these attacks, because I know how vital a strong public service is to the development of robust policy and the delivery of high-quality services.

I’ve also used Senate Estimates to drive change on specific issues impacting public servants, like Services Australia timing staff toilet breaks. I will keep raising these issues, like pushing for Department of Parliamentary Services staff to be covered by the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service.  

Public servants play a critical role in tackling complex national challenges, from climate to health to national security. They also, by the very nature of their job, can’t fight back or speak up in their own defence. I’ll keep working to ensure public servants are respected, supported, and empowered to deliver real results for all Australians.  

Establishment of a National Anti-Corruption Commission

Establishing a federal integrity commission was a core pillar of my 2022 election platform, backing in the previous advocacy of existing independents and after sustained pressure from the crossbench, and particularly from Helen Haines MP, the Government finally acted. In late 2022, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) was legislated into law. After years without a federal watchdog, this was a historic and long-overdue win for accountability in Australian politics.

But I’ve been clear-eyed about its flaws. I was disappointed the Government bowed to Coalition pressure and made it harder to hold public hearings, limiting transparency when it matters most.

And since its establishment, the NACC has been far from perfect. In particular, its troubling initial decision not to investigate the Robodebt scandal, one of the most egregious failures of government in recent memory. This decision was subsequently reversed following an investigation by the NACC Inspector, an institutional safeguard established following crossbench advocacy.

That’s why I’ve been vocal in calling out these failures, urging the Commissioner to consider stepping aside, and calling for broader reform to restore public trust in this crucial body.

The creation of the NACC was a step forward, but we can’t stop there. I’ll keep pushing to bring greater integrity to politics.

Standing with whistleblowers and giving them a voice

Since being elected, I’ve been approached by numerous whistleblowers. People with the courage to speak out about corruption, malpractice, and mismanagement. I’ve worked hard to support them, connect them with legal advice, and use my voice in Parliament to expose wrongdoing.

Where necessary, I’ve used parliamentary privilege to bring critical information into the public domain. One example is when a whistleblower came to me with allegations that Santos had covered up a significant oil spill off the coast of Western Australia, linked to the death of marine life, including dolphins. I tabled the documents in the Senate. As a result, Santos was fined, and there was accountability at the board level. You can read some of the details of what happened in this ABC investigation.

This is what whistleblowers do: they defend the public interest. But too often, they’re left isolated, vulnerable, and without real protection. I’m calling for changes that will fix our broken whistleblower laws (see below) and I’ll keep using my role in the Senate to give whistleblowers a voice.

STILL FIGHTING FOR

Opposing ideological cuts to the public service

The Leader of the Opposition has announced that, if elected, he will be seeking to “reverse the increase in 41,000 Canberra-based public service jobs.” While his colleagues have made many conflicting comments about this over the course of the campaign, the main thrust hasn’t changed, the Coalition will cut public service jobs.

Let me be clear: this is not good for the services Australians rely on and it will be devastating for the ACT.

Firstly, only one-third of the public service is based in the ACT. The additional 41,000 public servants that have been hired are working outside of the ACT in front-line roles in agencies like Services Australia.

Cutting 41,000 jobs in Canberra would gut the services we all rely on. It would mean that Departments and Agencies would need to weather significant cuts to resourcing, with no indication of workloads decreasing commensurate with those cuts.

It will also be devastating for Canberra as a city. From an analysis undertaken by the ACT Government following cuts to the public service in 1999, we know that cuts of this scale would wipe between $1.5 - 2.0 billion off of the ACT’s Gross Territory Product each year. This would almost certainly cause a recession in our Territory that would touch every sector, particularly the construction and small business sectors who rely on economic growth in our community.

These cuts are purely ideological. As a share of the population, the public service is smaller now than it was 15 years ago and there are already annual efficiency dividends on departments and agencies to incentivise operational efficiency within the APS. These cuts are not designed to deliver an efficient or productive public service, they are aimed at punching down on Canberra to support votes in other parts of the country. 

A productivity and efficiency agenda for the public service is sound management, and is consistent with community expectations. However, if re-elected, I will be opposing these ideologically-driven cuts that will result in poorer quality services for the nation.

Establishing a Whistleblower Protection Authority

Whistleblowers are essential to a healthy democracy, yet for decades, those who speak out have been punished, not protected.

In early 2025, I introduced a Private Senators’ Bill to establish an independent Whistleblower Protection Authority. This long-overdue body would provide a single point of support for whistleblowers, ensuring they get the advice, protection and oversight they need.

The Authority would:

• Support whistleblowers through every step of the process
• Ensure disclosures are investigated and acted upon
• Monitor and respond to retaliation
• Strengthen accountability across government and business
  
  

The need is urgent. Whistleblowers like Genie-Marie Blake (Robodebt) and Richard Boyle (ATO) have paid a huge personal price for doing the right thing. Others come to my office using parliamentary privilege as a last resort, risking their jobs and safety to expose wrongdoing.

This reform is backed by legal experts, integrity advocates and fellow crossbench MPs including Andrew Wilkie, Helen Haines and Jacqui Lambie.

Whistleblowers shouldn't need to be heroes. They should be protected by law.

Fixing our broken whistleblower protection laws

When whistleblowers expose corruption, human rights abuses and systemic failures, they make Australia a better place. But too often, the law punishes whistleblowers for speaking up.

Despite three decades of reform, Australia’s whistleblower protections remain virtually unenforceable. Under our faulty federal laws, only one Australian whistleblower has ever received compensation for the harm they suffered. Most whistleblowers face retaliation, job loss, or legal threats, so many never speak up at all.

The system is broken, which is why I’m calling for urgent reform to fix our laws and protect the people who protect the public.

We must:

• Introduce strong, consistent whistleblower protections across the public and private sector, with clear pathways for speaking up safely and lawfully.
• Establish an independent Whistleblower Protection Authority to provide support, oversight and enforcement (see above).
• Ensure whistleblowers have access to legal advice, protection and redress, including a reverse onus of proof when whistleblowers suffer reprisals
  

Australians who do the right thing should be protected, not punished. I’ll keep fighting to ensure they are.

Restoring public trust in the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC)

The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) was created to bring integrity and accountability to federal politics. But the decision not to investigate the Robodebt scandal (despite a Royal Commission confirming unlawful conduct and systemic failures) has seriously damaged public trust.

The circumstances of that decision, including the refusal to release legal reasoning, raise real concerns about transparency and accountability.

That’s why I’ve called for:

• The threshold for public hearings to be lowered to provide greater transparency and rebuild public trust
• The statutory review of the NACC to be brought forward
• The Attorney-General to appoint an Acting Commissioner to investigate Robodebt
• The NACC Commissioner to step aside, to restore confidence in the Commission’s independence and judgment
  

Australians deserve a NACC that’s fearless, transparent and above politics. One that holds powerful people to account and doesn’t shy away from investigating government failure at the highest levels.

I will continue fighting for a stronger, more effective NACC. One that lives up to the promise of integrity in federal politics. You can read more about my advocacy on this here and here.

Fund the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) and protect accountability

The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) plays a critical role in exposing waste, rorts, and government mismanagement, but it’s being starved of the resources it needs.

From sports rorts to misconduct at the Passport Office and improper conduct in Defence procurement, the ANAO has uncovered serious failures that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. While Labor gave the ANAO a funding injection of $14.3 million over four years, from 2022-23 to 2025-26,the most recent budget cut ANAO funding by $4 million, forcing it to scale back its work. It had planned to deliver 48 performance audits this year, but will publish only 44. Next year the forecast is even worse with the ANAO saying it expects to publish between 38 and 42 performance audits. This is fewer audits than were delivered under the Morrison Government. That’s unacceptable. Without proper funding, the ANAO cannot meet its full work program and we all lose out. Fewer audits means less oversight, fewer checks on spending, and fewer opportunities to expose waste and corruption.

I’m calling for a substantial funding increase for the ANAO to ensure it can deliver full, independent scrutiny of government spending and performance. Australians deserve transparency, value for money, and accountability. Let’s make sure the ANAO has the resources to do its job.