Don’t be afraid of anti-graft commission, says AG

89
3
Don’t be afraid of anti-graft commission, says AG

Attorney General Mark Dreyfus warns politicians and officials not to be afraid of the powers the federal government wants to give its new anti-corruption commission.

The nation's first law officer promises to reveal all when he introduces legislation to parliament on Wednesday.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission NACC will have broad powers to investigate corruption and have a lot of discretion to decide what inquiries it will launch and how it investigates matters, according to Mr Dreyfus.

People should not be afraid if they've been involved in corrupt activities, the attorney-general said.

The commission's decision on what matters are to be investigated and how it will devote its resources is something that will be up to the commission to decide. Labor had been highly critical of the Coalition's model for a Commonwealth integrity commission since it was first unveiled in December 2018.

The central argument was that it was highly secretive and lacked sufficient powers and autonomy to tackle corruption.

The proposed watchdog would have a wide scope of jurisdictions to investigate serious or systemic corruption in the Commonwealth government and the public service, according to Mr Dreyfus.

In exceptional circumstances that were in the public interest, the commission would be able to hold public hearings - a topic of debate on the merits of an anti-corruption watchdog.

The commission is going to be asked to consider whether the hearing should be held in public, because every investigation it undertakes is going to be in the public interest, but this is a different question that the commission is going to have to consider, as well as whether the hearing should be held in public, Mr Dreyfus said.

I expect most of the hearings conducted by the federal commission, just as the state and territory commissions will conduct most of its hearings in private.

But where there are exceptional circumstances and the commission determines that it is in the public interest that a hearing is going to be public, it's going to be a matter for the commission. The commission will receive $262 million over four years, with a parliamentary committee to oversee its budget and provide advice on its operations.

Not appropriate'' for AG to make referrals.

Labor spent much of the 2022 election campaign highlighting the alleged pork-barrelling by the former Coalition government, including the so-called sports rorts saga and the commuter car parks program, as reasons why a corruption watchdog was needed.

Mr Dreyfus was asked whether the government would refer former ministers and public servants to the Anti-Corruption Commission over those matters.

I said before, the commission would be able to receive referrals from any source. Crossbench MPs who had been campaigning on an integrity platform for years have raised concerns about whether third parties such as businesses accused of bribing officials would be included in the commission's scope.

The commission will be able to investigate third parties whose conduct influences the improper conduct of a public official, or failure by a public official to act impartially, if the commission is able to do so, according to the attorney-general's office.

The findings showed corruption by someone involved in the government. Whistleblower protections will also be included in the legislation, aside from the broader reforms to whistleblower shields the attorney-general is pursuing.