Opinion: Tony Fitzgerald must clarify the role of the CCC

On the eve of a report that’s been dubbed Fitzgerald Mark II, we can hope for one question to be answered, writes Neil Doorley.

Thirty-three years after Tony Fitzgerald QC delivered his landmark report, he’ll tomorrow hand down the findings of his six-month review into the operations of the state’s corruption watchdog, a product of his first inquiry.

While his royal commission in the late 1980s was a watershed in the state’s history that ushered in a new era of accountability and oversight, Fitzgerald Mark II, as it’s been dubbed, won’t be as wide-ranging.

Still, many are hoping the corruption buster, who agreed to come out of retirement to investigate the Crime and Corruption Commission, will clarify what you’d expect to be pretty straightforward – what the CCC should actually be investigating.

Why? Because for some time, we had everyone from the Premier down – even the state’s first law officer Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman – imploring public servants and other whistleblowers to report any integrity concerns to the CCC, because it was a “standing commission of inquiry”.

Ms Palaszczuk in fact smacked down critics in January calling for an in-depth royal commission to have a “reality check”, despite the resignations of the state’s integrity commissioner and CCC chair and claims the government’s former state archivist was forced out of office.

And in February, Ms Fentiman dismissed the integrity probe push in both a media statement – and on social media – by reminding us that the “CCC is Queensland’s standing commission of inquiry”.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (front), Deputy Premier Steven Miles and Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman

“It has all of the powers of a royal commission. Legal protections for whistleblowers exist under the Public Disclosure Act, introduced by a Labor government,” she gushed.

Alas, in May, the CCC’s acting – now permanent chair Bruce Barbour – told a hearing of the parliamentary crime and corruption committee that the corruption watchdog had neither the remit nor the resources for any broadscale investigation of state government integrity.

Mr Barbour clarified that probing such issues was not the job of the CCC, which was targeting serious crime and specific instances of corruption.

He went on to say the CCC’s budget would not be able to fund any such inquiry and, should it be asked to undertake an inquiry, the government would need to provide the funds to do so.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she’d launch an inquiry into allegations of systemic integrity issues, only if Professor Peter Coaldrake recommended it in his review into the public sector. He didn’t.

But in his “Let the Sunshine In” report released on June 28, which revealed bullying and intimidation within the Palaszczuk government, Professor Coaldrake shone a spotlight on the shortcomings of the CCC, which he noted “generate and attract justified controversy”.

“The CCC, by resourcing, powers and cultural inclination, is naturally the giant in Queensland’s integrity landscape, expected to, and assuming, responsibility for the major integrity and corruption issues that arise,” he wrote.

Former media adviser Neil Doorley

“This review has sought not to engage with issues falling properly within the remit of the commission of inquiry relating to the Crime and Corruption Commission.

However, a review of the efficacy of the integrity system would be incomplete without some consideration of the place of the CCC within it.”

In his report, Professor Coaldrake noted concerns about the CCC’s so-called devolution principle, where the corruption watchdog is handing complaints back to the very same government departments who are the subject of the allegations.

“It was in this context that the review has heard that the CCC is sometimes ungenerously referred to in the public service agencies as ‘Australia Post’, that is, receiving complaints and sending them on without taking ownership of many investigations themselves.”

Professor Coaldrake recommended the creation of a cross-government clearing house, which would assess complaints before referring them to the CCC for investigation.

That would make sense, because the CCC’s gamut is currently too wide.

Queensland owes corruption fighter Tony Fitzgerald an enormous debt – he changed our state for the better.

And while the botched investigation into Logan City Council will feature strongly in Tuesday’s report, hopefully, it’ll also put an end to this government’s fairytale that the CCC is a “robust institution” ready to pounce on wrongdoers.

Neil Doorley is a former senior political media adviser