The rules governing the parliamentary entitlements system need reform.
Soon after taking office, this Government restricted access to family travel, stopped Members and Senators employing immediate family members and ended first class overseas travel. We also supported restoring the power of the Remuneration Tribunal to determine base salary.
Despite this, some parliamentary travel has been inside entitlement but outside community expectations.
The rules lack clarity and lack transparency.
We need a system that is simple, effective and clear.
We need a system that more independently sets and monitors parliamentary entitlements, working with the Department of Finance and the independent Remuneration Tribunal.
We need a system that enables parliamentarians, their staff, and the public, to operate inside the rules with confidence and for those rules to meet the expectations of the community.
We need a system that supports the work and activities of current day politicians, from diverse electorates, and helps them to serve their constituencies, parties and the Parliament.
The Government has asked former Secretary of the Department of Finance, Mr David Tune AO PSM, and Chair of the Remuneration Tribunal, Mr John Conde AO, to co-chair a committee to examine how best to deliver a more independent system.
This committee starts with a blank sheet of paper to provide options on a system that is truly independent.
It will report to the Government in the first half of next year.
2 August 2015