CANBERRA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Kelly O'Dwyer, Australia's Minister for Industrial Relations, has labelled an opposition plan to financially reward corporate whistleblowers as "wacky".
Responding to the proposal, O'Dwyer said it was "too little, too late" from Bill Shorten, leader of the opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP), saying the governing Liberal-National Party coalition (LNP) had done enough to protect whistleblowers.
"This wacky idea that you hand taxpayer dollars over to people who might have been involved in corporate misconduct themselves is not one that I think would sit well with most Australians," she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Sunday evening.
"Our Government is the only government that has delivered world-class whistleblower protections," O'Dwyer said.
"For the first time our taxation regime will be covered, and we have strengthened the financial service and corporate sector protections as well," O'Dwyer said.
Shorten announced the plan on Sunday morning, promising that any government he leads would "reward the brave Australians" who lift the lid on crime, misconduct and corruption in the corporate sector.
