The deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, has dismissed the idea of forming an independent anti-corruption watchdog to oversee federal politics, saying the Senate already performs the function well.



He also agreed with the assessment of the United States defence secretary, Jim Mattis, that China and Russia posed a far greater threat to the US than Islamist terrorism.

“I don’t think China’s about to invade anybody, nor would I even suggest that, but a fact is a fact – they have extensively grown their military capacity and we have to be aware of that,” Joyce said.

“It’s a statement of the bleeding obvious to say that any state that has the capacity to overrun you is always a greater threat ... the capabilities of a whole range of countries are vastly in excess of the capabilities of Isis, which at this point in time has basically been defeated in Iraq.”

Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, Joyce dismissed suggestions that Australia needed an anti-political corruption watchdog in Canberra, saying the system was working fine at the federal level.

Two weeks ago a survey found an increasing number of public servants had witnessed corruption, largely in the form of cronyism and nepotism, in the past three years.

The survey, conducted by the Australian Public Service Commission, revealed 5% of public servants reported witnessing corrupt behaviour in 2016-2017, a significant increase from the 2.6% who witnessed corruption in 2013-14 and the 3.6% of respondents in 2014-15.

With the issue gaining attention, the progressive thinktank Australia Institute has been running a series of television advertisements calling for a national corruption watchdog to lift the trust in the political system.

One year ago, more than 40 high-profile Australians renewed calls for a federal independent commission against corruption (Icac) after political expenses scandals led to the resignation of the health minister Sussan Ley, but their calls were dismissed by the government.

Joyce said an anti-political corruption watchdog was unnecessary in Australia, and he didn’t want to get to the point “where people are scared for the government to govern”.

“I don’t think there is a real sense in Australia of a concern with the political system,” he said on Sunday.

“We don’t lack any capacity in our federal system to pursue issues that are a concern within the political frame. We’ve got a Senate in federal politics which all the time calls inquiries, it can basically subpoena people, it has the capacity if there is a query to follow that through.

“I just don’t want to get to the position where people are scared for the government to govern and all that happens is departments govern, because any time you make a decision that’s different to your department you have the potential to end up in front of Icac, that would not be governing.”

On Islamist terrorism, Joyce was asked to respond to news that the US now believed countering Russia’s growing aggression and China’s expanding military was more important than the threat of terrorism.

Joyce said Australia was taking note.

“We’ve got to make sure that we are realists in the change in the geopolitical landscape,” he said.

“We do see the rise of China, we see Russia being more overt in their positioning. We see the comparative power of China against the US, China is obviously growing and the US comparatively is in a more static position.

“I don’t see this as a massive change from what we already know, but we’ve got to aware of it and deal in that space.”

Australian Associated Press contributed to this report