Attorney-General Christian Porter's intervention in a defence contract audit has attracted calls from a parliamentary inquiry for greater scrutiny of powers used to restrict the national auditor from reporting his investigations.
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Labor, Liberal and crossbench MPs urged that parliamentarians sitting on the next parliament's committee examining government spending should investigate every occasion a decision is made to redact the auditor-general's work examining the public sector.
The committee, which will dissolve when the federal election is called, used the dying days of the current parliament to release a report recommending MPs after the poll consider a proposal to legislate a statutory timeframe limiting when the attorney-general can have an audit report redacted.
It said the proposed change would let the attorney-general "self-execute" extensions for a decision to redact an audit report.
After Mr Porter decided to remove significant parts of an audit criticising a $1.3 billion military deal following a 2017 complaint from French defence company Thales, the national auditor was unable to advise MPs whether the contract was value for money.
The attorney-general found the information would threaten Australia's national security and defence if published.
Head of the national audit office Grant Hehir later told parliament other departments had signalled they would ask the attorney-general to make similar decisions.
The inquiry, headed by Liberal senator Dean Smith, recommended MPs in the next parliament consider whether substantive reasons should be provided when a certificate redacting an audit report is issued.
Parliamentarians should also consider reform requiring MPs to be consulted confidentially if a proposal to redact an audit report affects its conclusion, or other information not prohibited from publication, it said.
Changes to the law could also require consultation with committee MPs before reports are redacted for non-national security reasons.
Mr Porter's unprecedented move to redact analysis and information from the audit of Australia's purchase of Hawkei light-protected vehicles from Thales raised questions about the independence and mandate of the Australian National Audit Office in probing billions of dollars in government projects.
It was the first time the government issued the certificate blocking the publication of parts of a report under the legislation overseeing the office, although the Attorney-General's Department said a similar certificate was issued in 1987 under previous laws.
Mr Porter denied his decision amounted to censorship and his department told committee members the redaction was based on the law governing the auditor-general's work and preventing his reports from revealing information contrary to national security or commercial interests.
