Politicians won’t be exempt unsatisfactory conduct investigations: Michael Gunner

Michael Gunner has said he respects a review into the ICAC Act, but has moved to ensure rules which investigate pollies won’t be changed.

CHIEF Minister Michael Gunner has ruled out watering down any rules for Independent Commissioner Against Corruption investigations into politicians.

A review of the ICAC Act, which is currently open for public consultation, raised the question as to whether the ICAC needs the power to investigate alleged ‘unsatisfactory conduct’ of MLAS.

Unsatisfactory misconduct includes a number of acts such as alleged ‘substantial mismanagement of public resources’.

The review of the ICAC Act was recently completed by former Department of Attorney-General and Justice chief executive Greg Shanahan, whose discussion paper was released for public feedback on Tuesday.

Mr Gunner has however told the NT News he would not be open to the idea of such changes.

“Pollies won’t be exempt,” he said.

“We respect Greg and the review, but we believe the ICAC needs to be able to investigate pollies.”

EARLIER: A REVIEW into the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Act has questioned whether elected politicians’ “unsatisfactory conduct” should be investigated by the corruption watchdog, four years after Chief Minister Michael Gunner explicitly said it should probe such claims.

The review of the ICAC Act was recently completed by former Department of Attorney-General and Justice chief executive Greg Shanahan, whose discussion paper was released for public feedback on Tuesday.

Politicians won’t be exempt from the Territory’s first ICAC. Concerns about Pollies are one big reason why we need an ICAC.

— Michael Gunner (@fanniebay) November 16, 2017

Four years ago, a now defunct parliamentary committee recommended draft legislation which founded the ICAC exclude the body from investigating politicians over “unsatisfactory conduct”, the definition of which under the current ICAC Act includes “substantial mismanagement of public resources”.

After an NT News front page story exposing the recommendation hit newsstands in 2017, Mr Gunner took to social media to pour cold water on the idea.

“Politicians won’t be exempt from the Territory’s first ICAC,” he tweeted. “Concerns about Pollies are one big reason why we need an ICAC.”

The NT News front page on November 17, 2017.

But now the review into the ICAC Act has again raised the question to whether this power is necessary.

“The review considered whether the ICAC is the appropriate body to carry out investigations into the conduct of elected politicians, particularly that which falls within the less serious levels of improper conduct, namely unsatisfactory conduct,” the discussion paper reads.

Health Minister and former Attorney-General Natasha Fyles said while there were “a number of oversights” in place, members of parliament should “uphold the highest standards.

“As members of parliament we have the highest standards, any matters can be referred to the ICAC and they can make a decision whether it’s a matter for them to investigate,” she said.

“It’s under review and if people think that that should be an expanded power for the ICAC, then that’s something that can be looked at through this process.

“The ICAC has substantial powers, it’s been established and provided resources to investigate, but it’s not saying we can’t be agile and change things into the future.”

Deputy Opposition leader Gerard Maley questioned why the review was done in secret.

The Country Liberal Party Opposition has previously pushed for a parliamentary review of ICAC.