Secrecy Provisions Amendment (Repealing Offences) Bill 2026

The majority voted against an amendment introduced by Clark MP Andrew Wilkie (Independent), which means it failed. This amendment would have changed the text for the usual second reading motion, which is "that the bill be read a second time" (parliamentary jargon for agreeing with the main idea of the bill).

Amendment text

That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House:

(1) notes that:

(a) Australia has been described as 'the most secretive democracy in the world' due to the proliferation of national security, counter-terrorism and secrecy laws, and the lack of whistleblower and public interest journalism protections; and

(b) despite the Labor party promising in its 2021 platform to overhaul and improve Australia's whistleblower protections, only small changes have been introduced to date, and protections remain patchwork and inadequate; and

(2) calls on the government to:

(a) introduce comprehensive reforms to the Public Interest Disclosure Act and the Corporations Act to better protect whistleblowers;

(b) introduce comprehensive reforms to the Crimes Act and Criminal Code Act and Evidence Act to better protect public interest journalism and media sources;

(c) establish a Whistleblower Protection Authority to oversee public and private sector whistleblowing; and

(d) establish a federal whistleblower rewards scheme encouraging whistleblowers to come forward and expose wrongdoing".