CCC reveals list of reports which would have never been released under Peter Carne ruling

Major investigations such as Queensland’s fake prince and the Premier’s chief of staff are the type the corruption watchdog will be forced to keep secret if it loses a legal battle.

Major investigations including how a fake Tahitian prince managed to defraud Queensland Health and others into public service bribery and fraud are the types of reports the corruption watchdog will be forced to keep secret if it loses an ongoing legal battle.

Former public trustee Peter Carne won an appeal in August preventing the Crime and Corruption Commission from releasing a report that probed allegations of misconduct — a precedent the watchdog is appealing in the High Court.

The CCC had warned dozens of investigations and hundreds of media releases in the last 25 years would not have been published if it had been forced to stick to this rule and only publish reports related to public hearings.

Joel Morehu-Barlow passed himself off as a Tahitian prince.

It has since been revealed the reports the public would never have heard about include some of the state’s most significant investigations in the post-Fitzgerald era.

The list of 32 reports dating back to 2002 and 256 media releases stretching to 1998 has been released by the CCC this week, following a request from the watchdog’s master the parliamentary crime and corruption committee

The list includes a 2013 report on how Queensland Health could prevent being swindled again after fake Tahitian prince Joel Morehu-Barlow managed to defraud Queensland Health of more than $16m.

CCC REPORTS AND MEDIA RELEASES THAT WOULD BE AFFECTED

An investigation by the CCC — then known as the Crime and Misconduct Commission — in 2010 of the police investigation into itself after the high-profile death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee on Palm Island was also on the list of reports which would have been barred.

Other matters included a probe into Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s chief of staff David Barbagallo and his interest in a cruise app, and Operation Yabber into Gold Coast City Council.

The types of press releases which could not be published include updates on investigation and bombshell charges, but also routine statements.

CCC chair Bruce Barbour told the PCCC in August that “if the Carne decision was to stand then there would definitely be concerns about what we would be able to do in the future in terms of being open and transparent about our investigations”.

Former public trustee Peter Carne

Mr Carne was investigated by the CCC in 2018, after allegations of corrupt conduct were made against him including improper use of Public Trustee Office resources — but no criminal proceedings were ever brought against him.

In 2021 the Supreme Court ruled a report containing accusations against Mr Carne could be made public, but the former public trustee challenged that ruling on the basis he was denied procedural fairness and the release would breach his human right.

Former deputy premier Jackie Trad has an ongoing legal battle of a similar nature — attempting to keep a CCC report into allegations she intervened in the independent recruitment process of a senior public servant during her tenure as state treasurer secret.

Ms Trad’s legal fight has been delayed until the case of the CCC against the Carne ruling is heard in the High Court on December 15.