Inaugural ICAC Bruce Lander’s biggest hits and misses
SA’s first anti-corruption commissioner’s many battles will not be soon forgotten. Now as he prepares to step away from the job, we revisit his most famous struggles, victories and controversies.
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As Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Bruce Lander prepares to call time on his tenure, Daniel Wills and Steve Rice look back on some of his most prominent cases.
TROY BELL
The former Liberal quit the party and became an independent in 2017 after being charged over fraud and theft.
The allegations surround the alleged misappropriation of more than $2 million of taxpayers’ money prior to becoming a member of Parliament.
It is alleged the offences took place between 2009 and 2013 when Mr Bell, a former teacher, ran an independent learning centre in Mount Gambier. Mr Bell has denied any wrongdoing.
He said he was “in a state of disbelief and shock”, and sick to his stomach over the allegations.
The case is currently before the court, which has criticised the ICAC’s investigation methods.
GILLMAN
After significant media attention over a land deal at an industrial site near Port Adelaide, the ICAC investigated the conduct of the then Labor State Government including former premier Jay Weatherill and ex-treasurer Tom Koutsantonis.
It made no finding of maladministration against either of the politicians, but did against two senior public servants.
The ICAC found former Renewal SA chief executive Fred Hansen’s conduct resulted in substantial mismanagement of public resources and in the performance of official functions. The State Government accepted an unsolicited offer for the land, without going to tender.
OAKDEN
After a bombshell report from SA’s chief psychiatrist, the ICAC held its own investigation into what happened at a neglected government-run aged care home where residents were assaulted.
The findings were dropped in the middle of the 2018 election campaign. It made maladministration findings against five public servants and had strong criticism of former mental health minister Leesa Vlahos, including: “She did not lead in addressing the crisis. She followed”.
Mr Lander also reported that she was “deliberately untruthful”, “generally unhelpful”, a “very poor witness” and “belligerent and aggressive” during the hearings.
COUNTRY MPS
In the final weeks of his tenure, Mr Lander announced an investigation into the use of a country members’ travel allowance.
Two ministers have resigned after paying back money, and conceding some administrative errors.
Several other Liberal MPs have been caught up in the controversy.
However, Mr Lander has been unable to finish the investigation as MPs seek to assert parliamentary privilege to stop the accessing of documents.
It will now be a decision for his successor Ann Vanstone as to if and how the investigation is concluded.
SA HEALTH
A report last year into the biggest department in the State Government found SA Health was “ripe” for corruption.
It made no particular findings about individuals, but said many processes were lax and vulnerable to exploitation.
Mr Lander found SA Health was “an environment where personal interests are preferred at the expense of the public interest” and “important documentation either does not exist or cannot be found”.
It led to a now-infamous behind the scenes encounter with Premier Steven Marshall, who claimed the report had damaged the agency’s reputation using outdated information.
Mr Lander said Mr Marshall had conveyed in private that he didn’t think the report was “helpful”, despite saying the opposite in Parliament.
MICHAEL KING
A four-year legal saga finally reached its resolution in June this year when the former Transport Department official was fined $5000 but spared jail.
King was one of five people arrested in 2016 as part of a wide-ranging investigation into government employee credit card fraud.
The validity of techniques used by ICAC investigators was brought into questions over the long-running case.
During pre-trial proceedings in 2018, Magistrate David McLeod ruled that ICAC warrants used by investigators were invalid.
That decision was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2019.
On the 25th day of his Magistrates Court trial, King pleaded guilty to two of more than 20 dishonesty and fraud charges levelled against him.
The remaining charges were dropped.
OPERATION MANTLE
The first charges laid by ICAC, against seven police officers from a drug squad based at Sturt Police Station, ended without a single conviction and taxpayers facing a multimillion-dollar legal bill.
Three officers were tried in the Supreme Court in 2018 over the allegations, which dated back to 2014, but a jury either found them not guilty or did not reach a verdict.
Another three officers were referred to the District Court, where two were acquitted by a jury in 2019. Prosecutors entered a nolle prosequi, or a formal withdrawal of charges, against the third officer, allowing the DPP to lay the charges again should additional evidence be obtained.
The seventh officer had charges withdrawn in the Adelaide Magistrates Court in 2015.
JURGEN MICHAELIS
The former BioSA boss walked free from court after a District Court judge acquitted him of corruption.
A charge of abusing public office already had been thrown out by the Adelaide Magistrates Court in 2017 when Dr Michaelis was ordered to stand trial on allegations he improperly tried to influence the former Labor government to spend $12m on a biotechnology deal from which he stood to benefit.
District Court Judge Liesl Chapman found Dr Michaelis not guilty of one count of abuse of public office in November 2018, finding his failure to disclose a conflict of interest during funding negotiations was not deliberate and that a criminal sanction was “not warranted”.
Dr Michaelis took a swipe at Mr Lander after his acquittal, saying ICAC had a “different view of this matter and a different view of the world”.
ALANA BARTELS
One of ICAC’s biggest victories resulted in a corrupt, ice-using Public Trustee worker who siphoned deceased estates to line her own pockets being sent to jail for 5 ½ years.
Bartels kept cash, personal items, jewellery, three cars and even a disabled parking permit she was entrusted in her role as an estate manager between August 2013 and May 2016.
Bartels sold two of the cars – falsifying records to hide the money – and kept the third for herself, using the permit to park close to work so she would not be late.
She pleaded guilty to eight counts of abuse of public office worth more than $32,000.
District Court Judge Geraldine Davison Bartels “exploited those you were there to assist, motivated by greed in an effort to receive personal benefits to which you were not entitled”.
Bartels will serve at least 2 ½ years in jail before she can seek parole.
BOB HARRAP
The former magistrate – once considered a top seed to become SA’s chief magistrate – pleaded guilty to two counts of deceiving another to benefit himself and one count of conspiracy to abuse public office.
Harrap admitted twice deceiving the Courts Administration Authority as to who was driving his government-issued car when it was detected committing traffic offences in March and April this year.
His pleas also resulted in prosecutors dropping a fourth, more serious charge – conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
But his case, and 10 other ICAC matters, are now mired in uncertainty after legal issues arising from the prosecution of Mount Gambier MP Troy Bell.
A District Court judgment found basic methods used to investigate maladministration and corruption in public office were unlawful.