Today in the ACT Legislative Assembly, ACT Labor and the Canberra Liberals teamed up to block the public release of a whistleblower statement and public interest disclosure (PID) alleging maladministration involving the Canberra Institute of Technology’s (CIT) Electric Vehicle Centre of Excellence — despite releasing the documents being supported unanimously by the crossbench.

The major parties also blocked the release of a PID and statement from Mr Brendan Moyle, the former head of the ACT Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, about the ACT Government’s failures to deliver on its commitments to First Nations people. 

“Yesterday, the Assembly voted in unanimous support of my call for a stronger whistleblowing framework in the ACT,” said Mr Emerson.

”But today, the major parties voted to silence two whistleblowers who have taken an immense personal and professional risk in bringing their allegations to the Assembly.” 

Mr Emerson said arguments from the Government that the documents should not be published because the matters are under investigation by appropriate authorities did not stack up.

“In both cases, the whistleblowers found their allegations were not escalated appropriately when raised internally. Appropriate formal investigations into both matters only commenced after the whistleblowers’ allegations were made public,” said Mr Emerson.

“Our whistleblowing laws provide specific protections for public servants whose disclosures have not been actioned to raise them with parliamentarians. In blocking the publication of these documents, the major parties have voted to undermine the intent of those protections.

“This is not about giving special treatment to whistleblowers. It’s about giving a voice to whistleblowers who followed internal disclosure processes that failed them.

“I can understand the Government being squeamish about this, but who is the Opposition protecting?

“It’s incumbent on parliamentarians to prioritise the public interest, but there has been a fundamental failure of integrity in the Assembly today,” added Mr Emerson.

Please refer to Mr Emerson’s speech in the Assembly for further context and comments. 

MEDIA CONTACT: Will Devine | 0402 183 296 | [email protected]

BACKGROUND

Yesterday, Mr Emerson tabled two PIDs and accompanying statements during the debate on his Assembly motion calling for strengthened whistleblower protections. Find more information here. 

While the motion passed with unanimous support, the ACT Legislative Assembly moved to defer debate on whether the whistleblower’s statements and PIDs tabled by Mr Emerson could be made public until the following day. During today’s debate, the major parties voted against publishing the documents.