Integrity of Ministers requires greater transparency

MEDIA RELEASE 11 AUGUST 2026

Integrity of Ministers requires greater transparency
 
Helen Burnet will put a motion to the floor this Wednesday, August 12, that asks the Joint Standing Committee on Integrity to look at the secrecy that shrouds the operation of the Integrity Commission and consider whether the balance is right, particularly when investigations concern Ministers. 
 
“After the secrecy and absolute chaos of not one, but two ministers resigning over integrity matters - I call for the Joint Standing Committee on Integrity to look at this issue that has consumed so much of this Chamber’s time and the public's trust over the past nine months”, says Helen Burnet.
 
“It is not a political motion. It simply creates a pathway to prevent a repeat of the last nine months.
 
“What the Premier and his cabinet did or did not know about the investigation of their Ministers and the related legal proceedings has consumed a significant share of this Parliament's time in recent months. It dominated the most recent Budget Estimates, it has seen the resignation of two Ministers, and it culminated in a successful censure motion against the Premier in the last sitting of Parliament. 
 
“I believe a significant contributing factor in how the whole saga played out - the drawn-out uncertainty, the mounting bills, the parliamentary and public frustration - was the operation of the secrecy provisions in this Act. 
 
“That’s why I am putting forward a motion on Wednesday that aims to take the politics out of this sorry saga and look squarely and objectively at the operation of the Integrity Commission Act. 
 
“This motion is not an attack on the Integrity Commission, or on any particular individual or on the principle of confidentiality. It simply asks a Committee to look at how these provisions are operating in practice and to find the right balance, not to abolish protections altogether.
 
“While the justification for the secrecy provisions in the Act is to protect reputations and preserve fundamental rights, it is ironic that this sorry saga has ultimately damaged the reputation of the Integrity Commission, the Government, and the Ministers concerned, and there must be a lesson learned from that. 
 
“What I hope this motion achieves is more transparency in the operations of the Integrity Commission and that this leads to faster resolution of its investigations.”