Just about everyone in Australia sees the need for effective anti-corruption bodies, except those who would be investigated.
The Morrison government is under pressure to deliver some sort of federal investigatory body, and the new Attorney-General, Michaelia Cash, is scrambling to get a sacrificial Bill to Federal Parliament before the looming election.
It almost does not matter what it contains – it will not be passed in this Parliament and the model will be refined by whichever party wins the election.
The Coalition wants to blunt the effective ALP attack suggesting that they are scared of an anti-corruption watchdog.
All indications are the government will cobble together something that is toothless and useless but you can be sure it will have an impressive name. Rortbuster?
The federal opposition has proposed a National Integrity Commission, to be known as the NIC. Offenders being arrested will be told: “You’re NIC-ked.” The prospect of anyone laughing as they hear those words is quite remote.
The federal political battle over corruption will have little room for nuance. The public neither understands nor cares about the micro-detail of the powers and reach, but just wants to see it done and done properly.
They are sick of people getting away with being slippery. Curiously, the same politicians who have an insatiable appetite for extensive and almost unlimited coercive powers granted to investigate the CFMEU and other unions seem allergic to the same powers being applied to themselves and their friends.
Will the Prime Minister create a watchdog that can investigate sports and car park rorts? Or the use of a blind trust by a politician to receive “donations” from anonymous sources? Or one that could compel a minister to answer questions about how the media were tipped off about a secret police operation? In which case, multiple ministers as well as both the current and previous Attorneys-General would be under a cloud.
Christian Porter – demoted to the backbench — still refuses to reveal or even try to find out who has given him huge amounts of money. Senator Cash refused an Australian Federal Police request to be interviewed about how and why her staff tipped off friendly media about police raiding the AWU in 2017.
Scott Morrison has tried to argue the presumption of innocence has vanished, whilst confidently dismissing entirely the possibility of guilt
The politicisation of the work of the police is itself a serious matter. Text messages were deleted from her staffer’s phones – which seems to be tampering with evidence. Not surprisingly, the inquiry was dropped, frustrated by the lack of evidence.
Will any of these examples be within the ambit of a new federal NIC? If not, it will be a CRAP – a Corruption Regulator Avoiding Politicians.
During the week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison deftly argued that the decision to resign taken by former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian shows why a national anti-corruption body ought not have extensive powers.
Apparently, the PM already knows what the NSW ICAC inquiry will find and he has pre-judged the evidence that we have not yet heard and decided upon a verdict of innocent for ex-premier Gladys. Together with his media cheer squad, he has tried to argue the presumption of innocence has vanished, while confidently dismissing entirely the possibility of guilt.
There has also been criticism of the timing of the NSW ICAC inquiry, coming as it has amid a public health emergency. Since it is not house style for ICAC to explain what goes on in an organisation that by its very nature must operate secretly, we can only speculate.
The Morrison government is under pressure to deliver some sort of federal investigatory body.Credit:Illustration: Matt Davidson
In which case I will speculate that it is equally arguable that the ICAC has deferred carrying out its statutory responsibilities and has already waited many months for the emergency to ease before resuming a formal investigation into what was disclosed more than a year ago – that Ms Berejiklian made some very perplexing decisions about public expenditure of millions of dollars that must be forensically scrutinised.
Whether those rushing to exonerate the former premier are any better informed than those rushing to convict her, we shall eventually discover. “Sentence first, verdict afterwards” should stay in Alice in Wonderland where it belongs.
In South Australia, the SAICAC has had its powers and reach reduced this week, and in Victoria the IBAC is about to explore the innards of the state ALP with a timely series of hearings into long-brewing claims of branch stacking, first aired in this masthead nearly 18 months ago.
Former minister and powerbroker Adem Somyurek knows enough dirty secrets about what has been done, when and to whom, to guarantee he can cause collateral damage if he chooses.
There is also the possibility of the zombie saga of the CFA dispute being exhumed from its shallow grave.
The state opposition argues that the mere suggestion that some actions of Premier Daniel Andrews may be under scrutiny warrants him “doing a Gladys” and resigning.
Which is akin to believing that if you go into hospital for exploratory surgery, you are already dead. It is self-evident that anti-corruption bodies investigate governments – that is why they exist. Looking for corruption is not the same as finding corruption.
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Jon Faine is a regular columnist. He has worked on contract for the state government.
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2021-10-09 18:00:00Z
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