Politicians are hypocrites, but you probably already knew that. It’s the nature of the profession.
They either claim to have higher standards than they in fact do, or politicians impose higher standards on everyone else than they ever would on themselves.
Examples of the above are in abundance, and they aren’t restricted to either side of the major party divide.
We also know some crossbenchers aren’t much better, such as Teal MP Zali Steggall, who this week complained about low parliamentary standards … shortly after being forced to withdraw an unparliamentary remark in the chamber.
The latest example of hypocrisy by the current Labor government pertains to the rules surrounding its new legislation aimed at improving parliamentary standards of MPs and Senators, compared to the way it is going about imposing new standards on tax professionals.
This comparison neatly highlights the hypocrisy of the government: Happy to demand from others what it won’t require of themselves.
The new parliamentary standards laws won’t require any MP or Senator under investigation to disclose that fact.
The independent body undertaking investigations of alleged misconduct won’t be allowed to name the parliamentarians under suspicion ahead of any findings being made.
On the one hand, Anthony Albanese has introduced new parliamentary standards, where investigations of alleged misconduct won’t be able to name MPs. On the other, his government has introduced rules that could see accountants have to declare their own – alleged – misconduct to clients
I for one think that this is a good thing. The sort of tarring and feathering that can occur publicly when someone is outed as being merely ‘under investigation’ is career limiting at best, career destroying at worst. And we see allegations increasingly weaponised in public debates.
Of course it is no surprise that when it comes to how they treat themselves, politicians put such concerns front and centre. They did the exact same thing when designing the federal corruption watchdog that has already been legislated.
Only corruption findings are made public, not ongoing investigations. But what about for the rest of us?
Is the government consistent in protecting other professions from the damage potentially false allegations being disclosed might cause?
The answer is no, at least so far as new laws affecting tax professionals go.
And this should concern other professionals too, because the Labor government’s unwillingness to rectify the legal abomination it is imposing on accountants is a sure sign that other professionals could soon be subjected to the same tarring and feathering based on allegations (not findings). Which politicians have excluded themselves from. It reeks of hypocrisy by Labor.
Expecting accountants under new laws to disclose to clients when they are under investigation – at the same time that politicians protect themselves from a similar fate – is a clear double standard. No wonder the accounting profession are up in arms about the treatment they are receiving.
All 13 bodies representing 500,000 tax professionals (who knew there were so many! 74,000 of whom are practicing tax agents) from right across the country are united on wanting this law amended. But the government is ignoring their concerns, having already changed the law despite objections raised.
Meanwhile, let me give readers an insight into the gag inducing offal that goes into how the sausages are made when it comes to policy-making and media relations in Canberra.
To confirm whether or not the new parliamentary standards legislation would allow disclosure of MPs and Senators under investigation I was directed to the media team of the finance minister Katy Gallagher who is overseeing these new laws.
When I spoke to her press secretary and the policy adviser with expertise of the new rules, they very professionally explained to me why investigations wouldn’t be made public. Highlighting the unfairness of that happening. They made the point that findings, of course, would be made public.
Having established that was the case I went to the minister responsible for the new laws for accountants – the assistant treasurer Stephen Jones, asking him why what’s good for the accountants isn’t ok for MPs and Senators?
His new rules for accountants specifically say that if they are under investigation they might need to disclose this to their entire client base.
Assistant treasurer Stephen Jones’s silence was deafening when the contradiction was pointed out
To be clear, this isn’t a contested interpretation of the rules. It is spelled out in the explanatory note attached to the new laws.
After such a professional experience dealing with Gallagher’s team I was looking forward to how Jones would navigate what appeared to be a clear contradiction in principles between the treatment of accountants and politicians.
His response? Nothing. I’ve known the minister for years, shared drinks and a meal in Canberra even. He very generously got back to me the other week on a matter he did have an answer to.
On this matter, however – where there really isn’t any excuse for the hypocrisy – let’s be realistic, the silence was deafening.
So I went to the Prime Minister’s media team, who didn’t give me an answer either. It wasn’t complete silence this time, just confusion and a ‘misunderstanding’ that led to being ignored.
They thought because Gallagher’s office had spoken to me it was case closed. Eventually, after much protesting back and forth, I got as meaningless a formal response as there can be: ‘These are two completely separate issues.’
No kidding! I appreciated that otherwise hard to realise clarification.
But what about the principle that applies to both examples: why allegations in one case need to be disclosed publicly but not in the other? The sound of silence returned.
Media units in political offices can be a gigantic waste of taxpayers money, yet they are growing in size and scope. Their job is often to find a way to justify what’s already been announced, no matter how unjustifiable, hypocritical or inconsistent the policy might be. Propaganda is their stock and trade.
In the meantime, the government just continues to inconsistently apply principles most voters would prefer were consistently applied.
No wonder the wider public thinks modern politicians are out of touch, more concerned about themselves than doing the right thing.
The wisdom of the commons is dead right about that.
