History reminds us that the grasp for absolute power, born of political expediency, is often the calling card of the politically insecure and the morally corrupt, who are often driven by a fear of political failure and political obscurity. It is at these times, when political wisdom gives way to political expediency, that the role and functions of an elected independent body become critical to protect the vulnerable citizens who look to, and rely on, the independent body to watch over and protect their individual rights and aspirations.

The Commission on Government also said much on the need to ensure that there was improved accountability to the Parliament by the Auditor General in the discharge of his functions, and, as I have indicated, the opposition has advocated a joint standing committee on that matter. There is no question, on reading the COG report, that the Commission on Government advocated a very important role, in fact a leading role, for the Legislative Council on both financial accountability and indeed the work of the Auditor General. As I have already said, regrettably the Auditor General Bill in its present form disregards many of the Commission on Government's recommendations on the role of the Legislative Council.

The supplementary notice paper has a number of proposed amendments to the Auditor General Bill. They are strongly supported by the opposition. We hope that the government will recognise the need for accountability and transparency, the important role of the Auditor General and the constitutional role of the Legislative Council, and agree to those amendments.

COG made significant comment in recommendation 32 on the Auditor General's power to access information. It suggested in recommendation 32 that the proposed joint audit committee participate in the selection of the Auditor General and that the process for selecting the Auditor General should be detailed in the proposed Auditor General Act. There is a proposal outlined in the Auditor General Bill, but it fails to give proper recognition to the Legislative Council in that process, and that is something that our amendments are designed to attend to.

Recommendation 33 deals with the accountability of the Auditor General. Again, the bill also deals with that particular issue, but, where necessary, amendments on the notice paper will deal with this matter. There is no doubt in my mind that some members of the Legislative Assembly, and, indeed, some bureaucrats and some members of the private sector, are keen to lessen the role of the Legislative Council. In particular, they would like to lessen the role of the Legislative Council committee system in its review of government legislation and the government's administration of the state generally. I should say, however, for completeness, that many members of the Assembly and many senior bureaucrats recognise and value the role and functions of the elected Legislative Council, and rightfully see it as vital in the checks and balances that are required in a democratic state. I remind those members of the Legislative Assembly and those members of the community - in particular, I am referring to some articles that have appeared in the press in recent times - who seek to denigrate the role of the Legislative Council that they may find that they are laying the foundations for corruption in the public administration of the state to be covered up and allowed to flourish. I cite, for example, the findings of the Fitzgerald royal commission in Queensland, which, in a state with a unicameral system of government, saw the Commissioner of Police jailed for corruption and the Premier charged with corruption.

I invite members to cast their minds back to the WA Inc years in Western Australia, where corruption was able to flourish because the government of the day was contemptuous of the attempts of the Legislative Council to expose the corrupt dealings of the government by hiding behind inadequate legislation and refusing to answer questions truthfully and table documents that would have exposed matters of administration that were, in my view, designed and intended to be corrupt. Again, I refer to the Royal Commission into Commercial Activities of Government and Other Matters that considered a number of those issues, and the findings of that commission.

The ability of the government to hide behind the notion of commercial confidentiality when challenged as to the legality and morality of its actions or dealings is in my view an open invitation to lay the foundations for a potentially corrupt administration. The Auditor General Bill before the house needs to be amended to ensure that where a claim of commercial confidentiality is made by a minister, the Auditor General is provided with the reasons for such a claim. That is already included in the bill, but there should also be an opportunity for the Auditor General to test the veracity of such a claim and report his opinion of such a claim to Parliament. Members may wish to refer to COG recommendation 2A(a) and (b) to see what COG thought about that proposition.

When I hear of calls to abolish the Legislative Council, I recognise that often they are calls for incontestable power and authority to reside in the Legislative Assembly, and, as such, because the government of the day has the numbers in the Legislative Assembly, it can control or block investigations into particular issues that it does not want exposed. When I hear of calls to abolish the Legislative Council, I am reminded of the epic warnings of historian John Emerich Edward Dahlberg Acton, better known as Lord Acton. He lived from 1834 to 1902. Some members may be aware that in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1877, he stated -

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

I argue that Lord Acton's clear and simple but profound statement has been interpreted and expressed in a number of ways over the years. For instance, sometimes it is expressed as a person's sense of morality lessens as his or her power increases; or the corrupting influence of power is total when one's power is total; or power corrupts people but corrupt people seek power. This corrupting influence of unbridled power applies particularly when a political leader, a minister or a politician remains in power for such a period that his words and deeds are not open to challenge by an independent body. When that occurs, the political leader, the minister or the politician will often succumb to the belief that power and wisdom are the same thing. It is when he is unable to distinguish between what is morally right and what is politically expedient that his moral judgment decreases as his political power increases, thereby laying the foundation for corruption to flourish.

History reminds us that the grasp for absolute power, born of political expediency, is often the calling card of the politically insecure and the morally corrupt, who are often driven by a fear of political failure and political obscurity. It is at these times, when political wisdom gives way to political expediency, that the role and functions of an elected independent body become critical to protect the vulnerable citizens who look to, and rely on, the independent body to watch over and protect their individual rights and aspirations. I say that in respect of the question that should always be asked by members of the community when someone suggests that there should be some diminution of the role of the Legislative Council as a house of review. I simply say that when that call is made, there is a need to ask the question: why is the call being made in those terms. When that question is asked and the answer given, it will often be because someone else wants greater power, and the reason that person wants greater power is so that he can go unchallenged in the actions that he takes. Of course, that is a one-way road to disaster. It is because of the great respect that I have for the constitutional role of the Legislative Council that I see it as so important that it involve itself in the issue of accountability and transparency when it comes to public issues in Western Australia.

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