CORRUPTION INVESTIGATION – AUSTRALIA

Lib takes aim at teal with corruption probe call

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Original article by Rhiannon Down, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 7 : 25-Mar-25

Former Liberal MP Jason Falinski has called for a National Anti-Corruption Commission investigation into MP Zoe Daniel to be re-opened. Daniel had been accused of misusing commonwealth resources, but was cleared by the NACC earlier this year. It came after consultant Jim Middleton approached The Australian Financial Review about dropping Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes a Court from its 2024 Power list, with Holmes a Court having funded Daniel’s 2022 election campaign. The NACC found that Middleton was working as a temporary part-time consultant for Daniel and was being paid by her private not-for-profit company rather than the Commonwealth at the time of his approach to the AFR, but Falinski contends he has evidence that indicates that Middleton was still a ‘senior adviser’ to Daniel at the time, with Falinski accusing her of misleading the NACC.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION

Robo-debt officials to be investigated, in anti-corruption commission backflip

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Original article by Olivia Ireland
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 19-Feb-25

Former High Court judge Geoffrey Nettle has ruled that National Anti-Corruption Commission should investigate six public officials over their role in the robodebt scandal. Nettle was commissioned to undertake an independent review of the NACC’s June 2024 announcement that it would not pursue an investigation into six individuals who had been referred to it by the robodebt royal commission. The names of the six officials have not been disclosed. The welfare debt recovery scheme was implemented by the former Coalition government, and subsequently deemed to have been unlawful.

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AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Fair work launches 42 probes into CFMEU coercion, corruption

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Original article by Olivia Ireland, David Crowe
The Age – Page: Online : 16-Oct-24

The CFMEU’s construction division is under further scrutiny following the federal government’s recent move to place it in administration. The Fair Work Ombudsman has advised that it has commenced another 42 investigations into alleged illegal conduct within the construction division. The FWO has acted in response to a referral from the government after media reports exposed corruption within the CFMEU and its links to outlaw motorcycle gangs. Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt says the FWO’s investigations demonstrate that there has been progress in "cleaning up" the construction industry.

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CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

NACC for Higgins compo deal truth

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Original article by Ellie Dudley
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 17-Apr-24

Former NSW judge Anthony Whealy says the $2.445m compensation payout to alleged rape victim Brittany Higgins should be investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Commission. Healy says the NACC could not "ignore altogether" the findings of Federal Court judge Michael Lee in Bruce Lehrmann’s failed defamation case against the Ten Network; Justice Lee found that Higgins had told a number of untruths regarding the alleged incident at Parliament House in March 2019. Former Western Australian judge Kenneth Martin in turn says Justice Lee’s findings mean that the federal government may be able to seek to recover the payout to the former Liberal staffer.

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AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED

More than 870 Australian federal public servants acted corruptly over six years, investigation finds

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Original article by Henry Belot
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 6-Dec-23

The Australian Public Service Commission’s latest ‘state of the service’ report has highlighted the extent of misconduct within the nation’s bureaucracy. An internal investigation by the APSC has found that more than 870 public servants had acted corruptly between 2017-18 and 2022-23. It also shows that 162 public servants had acted dishonestly or without integrity in the last 12 months. Meanwhile, the APSC has established a new team to investigate serious misconduct allegations in response to the former Coalition government’s ‘robo-debt’ scandal.

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AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

Greens threaten to support Liberal amendment in move that could derail passage of key integrity bill

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 29-Nov-22

The federal government is still aiming to pass legislation for its National Anti-Corruption Commission before parliament rises for the year. However, it has received a setback after the Liberal Party proposed an amendment which would require the appointments of the NACC commissioner and inspector to be approved by at least three-quarters of the joint parliamentary oversight committee’s members. The Greens have indicated that they may be open to supporting this amendment unless the government agrees to allow the NACC’s parliamentary oversight committee to be chaired by a non-government MP.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Public hearing test strikes right balance

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 4 : 24-Nov-22

The Greens have confirmed that they will support legislation to establish the National Anti-Corruption Commission. However, Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather and other crossbenchers have urged the federal government to lower the threshold for public hearings of the NACC. As it stands, the NACC bill requires hearings to be held in private unless there are "exceptional circumstances". Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended the exceptional circumstances test, arguing that it strikes a balance between the benefits of public hearings and the potential negative impacts.

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AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Labor in retreat on corruption watchdog warrants

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 5 : 23-Nov-22

The federal government has agreed to some compromises regarding its bill to establish a National Anti-Corruption Commission. The government has put forward an amendment which restricts the power to issue surveillance warrants to superior court judges; it had originally proposed that members of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal be authorised to approve warrants to bug phones or access encrypted messages. Labor has also agreed to provide increased protections for journalists and their sources. The Senate is slated to vote on the NACC bill next week.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS TRIBUNAL

ABC warns national anti-corruption commission could investigate journalists’ work

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 19-Oct-22

The ABC has raised a number of concerns in its submission to a parliamentary inquiry on the proposed National Anti-Corruption Commission. The public broadcaster said the definition of corruption means the legitimate work of ABC journalists could come under scrutiny by the NACC if they receive confidential government information or documents in the normal course of their work. The ABC has called for editorial work to be excluded from the scope of the NACC’s powers. The Australia’s Right To Know Coalition in turn has expressed concern that warrants could be used to reveal journalists’ sources.

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AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA’S RIGHT TO KNOW COALITION OF MEDIA COMPANIES

Nats upset by watchdog threat to grants fund

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Original article by Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 7 : 4-Oct-22

Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has suggested that the proposed National Anti-Corruption Commission could be given the power to investigate the targeting of seats through grant programs. However, Nationals leader David Littleproud says such programs are a mechanism for seeing that regional areas get their fair share of funding, and that they should not come under the remit of the NACC. Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce says it does not view ‘pork barrelling’ as corruption but as a way of taking care of regional towns. Meanwhile, the Coalition has called for a high-ranking judge to make the final decision on whether NACC hearings are held in public.

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AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA