Portfolio — 24 March 2026

Senator Green — the Assistant Minister for Tourism, Pacific Island Affairs and Northern Australia — spent 24 March in the Senate managing the Commonwealth Entities Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 from second reading through committee consideration to the third-reading motion, with the bill ultimately agreed to without amendment [TA-260324-senate-dd516f85acd4:s003].

The bill modernises accountability and appointment frameworks for four Commonwealth statutory authorities: the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), the Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC), and the Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office (ASNO).

The centrepiece accountability mechanism for Austrade and ACIAR is a ministerial power to set performance standards in writing against which the relevant CEO can be terminated for unsatisfactory performance [TA-260324-senate-dd516f85acd4:s035]. A companion suspension power allows suspension of those CEOs — and the ASNO Director of Safeguards — for up to three months on grounds that suspension is in the interests of the agency, extendable to twelve months [TA-260324-senate-dd516f85acd4:s061].

The most politically sensitive design choice is that performance standards for Austrade and ACIAR are not required to be published, tabled in parliament, or gazetted; they remain private to the minister and the office holder [TA-260324-senate-dd516f85acd4:s009]. Reasons for suspension or termination are similarly not required to be made public, though the government acknowledged in debate that it would be unusual not to inform the public of a termination given the need to appoint a replacement [TA-260324-senate-dd516f85acd4:s057].

For OPC, the bill introduces a new power allowing the Attorney-General to issue directions of a general nature about OPC's drafting and publication functions — framed by Senator Green as a tool to align drafting resources with the highest legislative priorities of the government, informed by the Parliamentary Business Committee of Cabinet, while preserving OPC's statutory independence [TA-260324-senate-dd516f85acd4:s081].

The First Parliamentary Counsel is explicitly exempt from compliance with any direction to the extent it touches on the First Parliamentary Counsel's own performance or powers under the Public Service Act and the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act [TA-260324-senate-dd516f85acd4:s091]. The bill preserves the First Parliamentary Counsel's responsibility for prioritising OPC's legislative workload; ministerial directions operate at a general level and do not override statutory responsibilities [TA-260324-senate-dd516f85acd4:s125].

Those directions are not required to be tabled or published, though the Attorney-General retains discretion to publish.

ASNO is treated differently from the other three entities: the bill introduces suspension on grounds of misconduct or serious misconduct but deliberately excludes termination on unsatisfactory performance grounds to protect the Director of Safeguards' independence in regulating nuclear nonproliferation. Suspension of the ASNO Director, unlike the other entities, requires public notification — reflecting the regulatory environment and community trust in the nuclear nonproliferation regime.

The bill provides no suspension mechanism for OPC at all.

Procedural fairness applies automatically to all suspension and termination decisions; the bill does not exclude it. There is no merits review of these decisions, which the government characterised as consistent with Commonwealth practice for decisions requiring particular expertise.

Opposition scrutiny, led by Senator Cash, focused squarely on the absence of statutory transparency obligations: whether performance standards would be published, whether termination reasons would be made public, and the scope of the ministerial directions power to OPC. Senator Green's response in each case was that existing Senate scrutiny mechanisms and ministerial discretion provided adequate oversight — a position the Opposition contested as creating accountability gaps [TA-260324-senate-dd516f85acd4:s015].

The government maintained throughout that the bill reflects integrity and accountability reforms updating Commonwealth legislation that has not been revised in many years, and that the amendments bring statutory office holders into line with conduct standards — including the APS Code of Conduct — that apply to most working Australians [TA-260324-senate-dd516f85acd4:s017].

Separate from the bill, Senator Green used the third-reading debate to report on a recent visit to North and Far North Queensland, where she opened Medicare urgent care clinics in Mackay and Cairns and joined the Member for Leichhardt to welcome a new bulk-billing clinic [TA-260324-senate-dd516f85acd4:s153]. She cited constituent examples of cost-of-living relief — battery rebates and the $7.70 prescription for concession cardholders — and characterised the Opposition as having opposed every cost-of-living measure before parliament.