Ivana Bacik (Independent)

Political corruption. In all these areas there has been a culture of non-disclosure and in the past an absence of any sense of protection for whistleblowers. The Minister is right. We must have a balance and the good name of people must be protected. The balance went far too much the other way, however, and against giving any protection to a whistleblower who discloses in good faith. The amendment I propose, with the support of Senator Regan, would clarify for potential whistleblowers that they would be protected even if they did not have the full knowledge they thought they had. I think of all those people who disclosed planning corruption who were very sure they had seen envelopes change hands or that fraud had taken place but could not be absolutely certain because that is the nature of the kind of practice they were disclosing. It is done in secret. We must be careful not to create a perception that the onus on the whistleblower is so heavy that he or she must be absolutely certain before making any disclosure.

I support the Minister's wording in section 8A(1)(a) which states that a whistleblower is not protected if he or she has been reckless as to whether an allegation was false, misleading, frivolous or vexatious. That preserves a balance. I do not agree with Senator Mullen's amendment which would remove those words.