Crime and Corruption Commission call for law change to allow publication of findings

A landmark High Court decision will keep corruption investigations into politicians and public servants secret, the state’s watchdog warns.

Crime and Corruption Commission chair Bruce Barbour

• Legal win: Carne report to remain secret

Corruption investigations into politicians and public servants will be kept secret from Queenslanders unless laws are urgently changed in light of a landmark High Court decision, the state’s powerful watchdog has warned.

In a major precedent-setting decision, the High Court of Australia on Wednesday ruled the contents of a Crime and Corruption Commission report into former public trustee Peter Carne detailing allegations of misconduct should not be published.

CCC chair Bruce Barbour warned the watchdog had throughout its 25-year history relied on the understanding it had the power to make vital reports public, but the High Court ruling meant it had no such power.

It means reports yet to be made public, including a CCC investigation into whether former deputy premier Jackie Trad improperly intervened in the appointment of a senior Treasury official, may never see the light of day.

The CCC had already warned 32 reports, including into how a fake Tahitian prince managed to defraud Queensland Health, along with 256 media releases dating back 25 years, would have been kept secret under the precedent set by the court.

These also included a report in 2010 of the police investigation into itself after the high-profile death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee on Palm Island; a seminal 2015 report into transparency and accountability in local government which followed bombshell revelations of corruption within Ipswich City Council; a 2017 report book-ending a four-year saga involving two researchers at the University of Queensland prosecuted for falsifying a breakthrough study on Parkinson’s disease (Australia’s first criminal prosecution for research fraud); and a 2021 report blasting the Queensland police for “unlawful discrimination” over a push to recruit at least 50 per cent female cops.

Former Queensland public trustee Peter Carne

Mr Barbour said the CCC was seeking urgent legislative amendments and had written to Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath to discuss the issue.

Shadow attorney-general Tim Nicholls also called for the state government to change the laws and ensure CCC reports “see the light of day”, warning “Queenslanders can’t afford to be kept in the dark on integrity”.

Ms D’Ath said the government was seeking advice on the impact of the ruling.

Liberal National Party MP Jon Krause, the chairman of the parliamentary crime and corruption committee – which acts at the CCC’s watchdog – warned the High Court ruling would have “enormous implications”.

“The High Court’s decision has enormous implications for the CCC and the scope of its reporting powers for corruption investigations,” Mr Krause said.

Mr Carne resigned as public trustee in July 2020 after allegations of corrupt conduct were made against him. He denies the allegations. The CCC investigated the claims but did not pursue criminal charges against Mr Carne, and instead compiled a report for the parliamentary crime and corruption committee.

But Mr Carne intervened to stop the report being tabled in parliament, arguing it would breach his human rights and that he had been denied procedural fairness.

The Queensland Court of Appeal last year ruled in Mr Carne’s favour, concluding the CCC had misconceived its functions and the report was beyond its power to report.

The CCC appealed to the High Court but its arguments were dismissed, with costs, in a unanimous decision.

The High Court rejected the CCC’s arguments, finding that the preparation and presentation of the report were not carried out within the scope of Legislative Assembly proceedings and that the report was beyond the CCC’s powers to publish.

State parliament was also granted to leave by the High Court to join the CCC’s appeal of the Carne decision.

‘Fake Tahitian prince’ Joel Morehu-Barlow

Speaker Curtis Pitt, in a statement, said the parliament was “digesting the decision” of the High Court to “fully understand the implications of the decision for the operation of the parliament of Queensland Act”.

“Particularly the connection between reports and other documents prepared for parliamentary committees and parliamentary privilege going forward,” he said.

Mr Barbour said the CCC and its predecessors had reported on significant matters when there had been strong public interest to do so.

“(The CCC has also reported) when there are issues uncovered in investigations that the public, public sector agencies and elected officials should be made aware of to raise integrity standards and to reduce corruption risks in Queensland,” he said.

“It has done so on the understanding that it was empowered to report under its governing legislation, the Crime and Corruption Act. The High Court found that the CCC has no such power.

“The inability to report on matters uncovered in such investigations reduces transparency and is clearly not in the public interest.”

The opposition has called for the state government to make urgent law changes, with Mr Nicholls warning the High Court decision would mean the “antiseptic of sunlight” would now not be shone on government actions.

Mr Nicholls invoked the “essence” of the system recommended by corruption buster Tony Fitzgerald.

“This is the essence of the system that has been in place for over 20 years,” he said.

Protests over the death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee

TIMELINE

The High Court detailed a timeline of the Peter Carne case in its judgment on Wednesday. This is an edited version

March 2009: Peter Carne is first appointed as public trustee from 2009-14 and again from 2016 until he resigned in 2020.

June 2018: The CCC receives an anonymous complaint about Mr Carne alleging he had been involved in corrupt conduct. He has denied the allegations.

September 2018: The anonymous tipster sends further correspondence to the CCC relating to the initial complaint and an investigation is launched into the allegations.

May 28, 2019: The CCC provides information to the Attorney-General to consider whether Mr Carne has engaged in “misbehaviour” and whether to take disciplinary action.

June 13, 2019: The AG advises that the Governor-in-Council has approved Mr Carne’s suspension as public trustee pending the outcome of a show-cause process.

November 2019: A show-cause letter detailing the allegations is issued to Mr Carne, who is invited to make submissions.

April 30, 2020: The CCC advises the AG and Mr Carne’s solicitors that it has concluded the investigation and that it was not proposing any criminal proceedings be brought against him. Despite the finding, the CCC took steps to compose a report detailing the allegations and investigations and sought to have the report tabled in the Legislative Assembly.

July 31, 2020: Mr Carne resigns as public trustee, ending the show-cause process.

October 6, 2020: The CCC sends a copy of the investigation report to Mr Carne’s lawyers, advising the CCC has resolved to seek a direction that it be given to the Legislative Assembly Speaker.

October 2020: Mr Carne takes Supreme Court action to prevent the report being tabled.

September 2021: The Supreme Court of Queensland dismisses Mr Carne’s application. He appeals the decision.

August 5, 2022: Queensland’s Court of Appeal sets aside the earlier Supreme Court decision, declaring the CCC document is not a report as prescribed under the legislation.

December 15, 2022: The High Court grants the CCC special leave to appeal the appeal court decision and the case is heard over two days in June 2023.

September 13, 2023: The High Court hands down its judgment, upholding the Court of Appeal’s ruling that the report does not meet the legislative requirements allowing it to be tabled.