Member for Indi Helen Haines says legislation being tabled on Wednesday surrounding an anti-corruption watchdog "with teeth" would not have been possible without determined work from the crossbench. Dr Haines, speaking at Parliament House hours before the government was due to put forward details of the $262 million pledge for a National Anti-Corruption Commission, said she wanted to acknowledge her predecessor Cathy McGowan. "This historic day would not have happened if not for the crossbench," Dr Haines said. "I want to acknowledge the work of Bob Brown, of Larissa Waters, of Cathy McGowan. I want to make it very clear to the nation that the only legislation we've ever seen in this place up until today has come from the crossbench either through the Senate or through the House of Representatives. IN OTHER NEWS: "This is really important - we've fought long and hard to have retrospective powers, to have a very powerful anti-corruption commission with all the powers of a royal commission. "We've done a lot of work, we've worked hard to get third parties included, enormous advocacy - what we're hearing today as the attorney-general reads this bill in is the combination of a lot of work from the crossbench." Earlier this week, Dr Haines, as one of 15 crossbenchers to support the government move to establish the new watchdog, said she was confident the legislation would include robust principles but reiterated that the government must demonstrate its commitment to them, especially for the commission to have strong retrospective powers. Crossbenchers said they are "satisfied" with the promises so far but on Tuesday were awaiting further details, including what those additional protections for whistleblowers would look like, once the bill is introduced. To read more stories, download The Border Mail news app in the Apple Store or Google Play. Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: