CCC chief attacks state government go slow over corruption reports

The boss of Queensland’s corruption watchdog has launched a stunning spray at the Miles government for multiple transparency failings.

Bruce Barbour of the Crime and Corruption Commission during estimate hearings. Picture: NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

The corruption watchdog has blasted the government for multiple transparency failings that have left Queenslanders in the dark and the police still investigating itself.

Crime and Corruption Commission boss Bruce Barbour, at budget estimates, candidly revealed the CCC was becoming increasingly frustrated over the government’s go-slow on major changes to allow it to again release corruption investigation reports.

He also confirmed the CCC was bewildered as to why a major recommendation – borne from an inquiry into the Queensland Police response to domestic violence – to set up a police integrity unit was taking so long.

The CCC’s powers to make vital corruption investigation reports public has been stifled since September 2023 when the High Court of Australia ruled the contents of a report into former public trustee Peter Carne detailing allegations of misconduct should not be published.

“I think it’s frustrating, beyond just the CCC, I think it’s frustrating to parliament, I think it’s frustrating to the Queensland community. I think it is not in the public interest,” Mr Barbour said.

“I think there could have been a fast, speedy resolution to the matter than what there’s been.”

Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath repeatedly said the government was considering the matter and seeking legal advice before ultimately deciding in February 2024 to launch an independent three-month review led by former Chief Justice Holmes.

In May this year Premier Steven Miles declared the state government supported all 16 recommendations of the review – including a ban on criticising MPs if they haven’t been found guilty of a corruption offence.

Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath. Picture: NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

But any laws won’t be put in place before the October election, as the government has not yet introduced changes and there is now no more time to properly consider legislation.

Mr Barbour said the CCC had “major concerns” about some of the recommendations.

“We don’t believe they’re appropriate, we believe they’re inconsistent with the public interest, and we don’t support them,” he said.

Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath defended the government’s undertaking of the Holmes review, arguing it was “not the government that removed these powers” but the High Court.

“I absolutely agree with the Commissioner when it comes to the principles of our crime and corruption body being able to report, they absolutely should,” she said.

But Ms D’Ath said the CCC should not be able to report with an “open blanket” framework.

“You can’t report what you want, when you want,” she said.

Meanwhile, Queensland Police are still investigating their own staff two years on from a landmark review which called for a stand-alone integrity unit.

Mr Barbour said it was “not clear to me why there has been a delay”.

The key recommendations of an inquiry into Queensland’s police response to domestic violence, in a report handed down in November 2022, called for an independent integrity unit to be set up by May this year to investigate all complaints against police.

At last year’s estimates the CCC revealed it had paid consultants more than $400,000 to investigate the recommendation and another $31,405 to fly executives to Northern Ireland to learn about the country’s police oversight scheme.

The CCC also submitted a report to government in May last year detailing options on how to set up the integrity unit.

On Thursday the CCC was informed a working group would be set up to work on a way forward.

Mr Barbour confirmed between May 2023 and yesterday he had been advised “now and then” about “potential progress about the formation of working groups”.

“But unfortunately none of that has come to pass in any meaningful way,” he said.

“It’s not clear to me why there has been a delay. I could hypothesise but I don’t propose to do that for the committee.

“But certainly, our view was and (that of Judge Richards) was that this was something that needed to be looked at very quickly and with some degree of urgency.”

Department of Justice and Attorney-General director-general Jasmina Joldic said the government had been “considering the report and working on options around the working group”.

She confirmed the CCC report had put forward four options.

“We really need to ensure that the context and the environment in which a proposed unit would operate needs to be really clear (and) taken into consideration, as such getting the terms of reference rights and getting the working group composition right is important,” she said.

Ms D’Ath said she had waited until Thursday to tell Mr Barbour about the working group as she wanted to tell him directly and he had been on leave.

She suggested the government is working through how the public service complaints clearing house and police integrity unit might overlap.

“There is a lot of work to be done because there is no model anywhere that actually operates as per this recommendation,” Ms D’Ath said.