Government uses numbers to stop Liberal push for open ICAC hearings in South Australia
UPDATED: SENATOR Nick Xenophon says he’ll refuse to support a minority government that did not allow ICAC to hold open hearings, as Labor used its numbers to crush a push for more transparency. VOTE NOW
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INDEPENDENT Senator Nick Xenophon says he would refuse to support a minority government that did not allow the state’s anti-corruption watchdog to hold open hearings, as Premier Jay Weatherill uses Labor’s numbers to crush a push for more transparency.
In a major campaign pledge, Senator Xenophon said he would demand transparency reforms if his rebranded SA Best party wins seats at the state election and is in a position to decide which party forms minority government.
In a move Senator Xenophon labelled a “disgrace”, Mr Weatherill and the so-called “independent ministers” on Wednesday combined to override a Liberal push to allow open Independent Commission Against Corruption hearings.
The vote came despite ICAC boss Bruce Lander insisting that more transparency over the probe was critical to ensuring public confidence.
Mr Lander is investigating abuse of residents at the Oakden aged care home and has said he would like some of the evidence to be heard publicly.
Family members of mistreated Oakden residents on Wednesday lashed out at the State Government for “continuing a culture of cover-up” by insisting on private ICAC hearings.
Alma Krecu, who says her father Ermanno Serpo was abused and over-medicated at Oakden, said it was “an absolute disgrace” that hearings into potential misconduct or maladministration there would remain behind closed doors.
“We have a right to know what happened,” she said.
“If there’s nothing to cover up, why won’t they allow it to be public?”
Barb Spriggs, whose husband Bob died after alleged mistreatment at Oakden, said she was “disappointed and frustrated” the Government had quashed the push for transparency.
“We want it to be exposed so that it makes other people aware that if you do wrong, then it’s going to be made public,” she said.
“It should all just be out in the open so that we’ve got some confidence ... that people are going to be accountable.”
Senator Xenophon plans to run candidates in about a dozen state seats at the March state election, and a victory in even one could leave him as the kingmaker in a minority parliament.
On Wednesday, he branded State Parliament’s rejection of open ICAC hearings a “disgrace” which could not be tolerated, saying he would insist on reform as a “non-negotiable”.
“I would make it a condition of minority government,” Senator Xenophon said.
“To go against the wise counsel of Bruce Lander, who has said that these open hearings are critical for public confidence, is just a disgrace.
“We have to have open hearings as a matter of course, and let the commissioner decide where that is appropriate.”
Senator Xenophon said he would refuse to back any government that did not agree to make the change within 100 days, which was “critical to confidence in our democracy”.
Mr Lander said it seemed a majority in Parliament did not have the “appetite” for transparency measures he had been demanding since the Gillman inquiry.
“I have consistently said there are very good reasons to provide me with the discretion to conduct maladministration investigations in public,” he said.
“My views have not changed. This is ultimately a matter for Parliament, which I note still does not have an appetite for it.”
Despite rejecting the open hearing push, Deputy Premier John Rau on Wednesday appeared to soften the Government’s position on releasing Cabinet documents to the ICAC.
“The position is that there is no request for anything as far as I am aware, and if a request were to come forward, that would be a matter to be determined on its merits,” Mr Rau told Parliament.
This week, Mr Weatherill told Question Time: “No Cabinet in the Westminster system releases Cabinet documents. It simply won’t.”
Opposition Deputy Leader Vickie Chapman said Labor should be condemned for its decision to maintain ICAC secrecy, and was containing a culture of cover-up.
“Clearly, the Weatherill Government has plenty to hide,” she said.
“The Weatherill Government is desperate to avoid public hearings regarding its failure to protect elderly patients at Oakden from abuse and neglect.”
Regional Development Minister Geoff Brock, who handed Labor power in 2014 after an election that delivered a hung parliament, said people may not give full and frank evidence in open ICAC hearings, which he did not support.
Mr Lander has repeatedly said he does not want open hearings on corruption matters, which are later prosecuted by courts, but only for public maladministration inquiries.
Former Liberal leader Martin Hamilton-Smith, now a minister in Labor’s Cabinet, said the ICAC should release considered public reports after considering evidence in secret.
“Public hearings to air accusations or allegations that may not be accurate or true is not going to help openness or transparency,” he said.
The two independent ministers were joined by former Labor MP Frances Bedford in rejecting open hearings. Former Liberal MP turned independent Duncan McFetridge was not present for the vote due to personal reasons, but later said he supports change.
Former Labor MP Frances Bedford, who quit Labor over a preselection fight, said she voted against open hearings because “the presumption of innocence is the thing that really concerns me”.
The Australian Conservatives are expected to make a separate bid to open ICAC hearings via the Upper House, which is expected to get unanimous support from all parties but Labor.