The Morrison Government's proposed new Commonwealth Integrity Commission gets another bad review.
The
Guardian, 24
January 2019:
A former judge of
Victoria’s highest court has attacked the
Coalition’s proposal for an anti-corruption body, describing it as a
sham designed to shield politicians and public servants from scrutiny.
Stephen Charles, a
retired Victorian court of appeal judge, said there was simply “no
justification” for the Coalition’s proposal to limit the commission’s powers
when investigating the public sector. He said the proposal to not allow public
hearings for public-sector cases – as opposed to investigations of law
enforcement – made no sense. Nor did the proposed body’s narrow remit, the high
burdens of proof needed to initiate an investigation, its inability to take
public tip-offs and its lack of resources.
“We see this body, the
[Commonwealth Integrity Commission], insofar as public servants and
parliamentarians are concerned, as a sham,” he told Guardian Australia. “It’s
not really an anti-corruption commission at all.
“It’s a body set up to shield parliamentarians
and public servants.
“It’s a very glitzy
model filled with all the bells and whistles but it masks the fact that it’s
not an anti corruption [body] at all in so far as public servants are
concerned. And the public servants are where the really large money is going.”
The Coalition’s model
for an integrity commission was released late last year. It drew early
criticism for not allowing public hearings or public tip-offs. The body is also
only able to begin an investigation if it is satisfied to a high threshold of
suspicion that a crime has been committed.
Transparency
International Australia, one of the key anti-corruption agencies lobbying for a
federal integrity commission, also criticised the narrow focus of the reform.
The group said major improvements were needed to systems governing lobbying,
donations and a revolving door between politics and big business.
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