Mr DREYFUS (Isaacs—Attorney-General and Cabinet Secretary) (15:04): I thank the member for Clark for his question. Our government is committed to delivering strong, effective and accessible protections for whistleblowers. He seems to have forgotten that in June last year the parliament passed priority amendments to the Public Interest Disclosure Act, which ensured immediate improvements to the public sector whistleblower scheme, to ensure that they would be in place in time for the commencement of the National Anti-Corruption Commission. The reforms implemented 21 of the 33 recommendations from the 2016 review of the Public Interest Disclosure Act, which was conducted by Mr Philip Moss. It was of course, as he again appears to have forgotten, a statutory review that we put in place when I brought the Public Interest Disclosure Act to this parliament in 2013. Regrettably the former government failed to act on that 2016 review by Mr Philip Moss. We did act. This was the first significant public sector whistleblower reform since the Public Interest Disclosure Act was first enacted a decade ago. The government is now progressing a second, broader stage of reforms, which includes the release of a consultation paper and public consultation on additional supports for public sector whistleblowers, including whether a whistleblower protection authority should be established. Submissions received as part of the consultation process are being used to inform the government's next steps for reform. If I could say something generally about the way in which the member for Clark, and a number of other people, approach the question of the operation on the Public Interest Disclosure Act: before 2013 the Commonwealth had no protection for whistleblowers at all. Every state and both territories had legislated schemes of whistleblower protection. A Labor government legislated a scheme of whistleblower protection in 2013. To take the last year alone, there were 684 public interest disclosures. So far from the situation being that there isn't protection for whistleblowers in the Commonwealth public sector, as the member for Clark and a number of other people would apparently wish to suggest, there is protection for whistleblowers in the public sector. He should be doing more to create the culture in which there is an understanding of that. Opposition members interjecting— The SPEAKER: Order! The Attorney-General has completed his answer. Mr Wilkie: Tell that to Richard Boyle. The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Clark has been here long enough—that is not acceptable under the standing orders. He's now warned. I give the call to the member for Hunter. Mr Dreyfus interjecting— Mr Wilkie interjecting— The SPEAKER: The member for Hunter shall resume his seat, so I can hear the member for Clark on a point of order. Mr Wilkie: A point of order, Mr Speaker. I would ask the Attorney-General to withdraw that reflection on my character. Mr DREYFUS: I withdraw.