PNG’s Australian integrity chief faces his own corruption investigation

The Australian lawyer leading Papua New Guinea’s fight against corruption has been accused by his own agency of plotting an unlawful power grab that would install him as the only official able to force politicians and public servants to answer questions during integrity probes.

The extraordinary allegations facing Independent Commission Against Corruption Commissioner Andrew Forbes have rocked PNG’s nascent effort to combat the corruption that for years has plagued the country’s parliament, security agencies and public service.

Papua New Guinea ICAC Commissioner Andrew Forbes.Credit: Independent Commission Against Corruption

The turmoil at PNG’s ICAC, which became fully operational only in mid-2023, will also alarm the federal government, given Australia has backed the nation’s efforts to strengthen its institutions as a means not only of development support but to counter efforts by Beijing and its proxies to increase China’s influence in the country.

Official sources, not authorised to comment publicly, also said ICAC had assisted the Australian Federal Police to probe links between corrupt officials and drug trafficking cartels importing into Australia, as well as allegations Australian government funds have been plundered in PNG.

A confidential affidavit, sworn by a senior ICAC official in September to allow the agency to seize Forbes’ phone and computer, outlines suspicions the embattled commissioner secretly and unlawfully directed public servants to change the wording of proposed laws that govern how ICAC uses its extraordinary powers.

The changes to the laws sought by Forbes had the effect of giving him sole authority to conduct compulsory questioning hearings in which corruption suspects are forced to answer questions in special hearings.

ICAC commissioners (from left) Daniel Baulch, Andrew Forbes and Graham Gill.Credit: Post Courier

The legislative changes removed the ability of his two deputies, former senior Australian police officer Daniel Baulch and ex-high ranking New Zealand financial crime investigator Graham Gill, to conduct such hearings.

The hearing powers are similar to those used by royal commissions and ICAC-type bodies in Australia and are typically used in major corruption probes.

The September affidavit alleges that the ICAC’s investigation into Forbes was sparked after its staff uncovered a series of WhatsApp messages and emails that revealed Forbes attempting to conceal from Gill and Baulch his efforts to direct a legislative drafter to amend the laws governing ICAC’s operations.

The affidavit refers to suspicions Forbes “deliberately concealed” his conduct to “secretly request amendments” to the legislation “for his personal benefit”, being the ability to solely exercise ICAC’s critical hearing powers.

The document also claims that a public servant had disclosed WhatsApp messages that backed up concerns Forbes has sought to secretly alter the law.

“In those messages the Commissioner specifically asked [the public servant] not to discuss anything with Deputy Commissioner Baulch and simply to ‘ignore him’,” the affidavit states.

The document also accuses Forbes of using his personal email account to send ICAC-related documents and conduct ICAC-related business.

The affidavit was presented to a judicial figure to enable ICAC to seize Forbes’ electronic devices last week as part of an investigation codenamed Operation North.

Forbes was contacted for comment.

The concerns about concentrating anti-corruption power in one official, rather than the commissioner and his two deputies, come amid a second and unconnected investigation involving ICAC and one of PNG’s most powerful public servants.

An official source has confirmed that in 2023 it was initially decided there should be no investigation into the public servant, who cannot be named for legal reasons but who is accused of abusing public resources. That decision was overturned and the anti-corruption agency launched a still ongoing inquiry.

This masthead is not suggesting there was inappropriate behaviour in that matter only that it demonstrates the potential issues with strong discretionary powers.

Prior to ICAC’s formation mid last year, anti-corruption efforts in PNG were routinely shut down by politicians and senior police, creating a culture of impunity.

In September 2022, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade released a briefing paper that described how domestic and international observers considered corruption to be endemic in PNG.

The paper detailed how Papua New Guinea’s proposed ICAC was designed to fill the gap left by several other PNG agencies that had failed to combat corruption because they lacked “sufficient funding and resources to fully prosecute their mandates”.

“Prime Minister James Marape came to office with a promise to fight corruption, but the passage of key anti-corruption legislation (Whistle Blower Act, ICAC’s establishment and the Proceeds of Crime Amendment Act) has not translated into meaningful progress,” it says.

Australian banks and the property market have for years been a key destination for money corruptly earned by PNG officials, with a senior PNG anti-corruption investigator previously describing Australia as the offshore money laundering destination of choice for corrupt PNG officials.

Federal police are running their own unrelated investigation into allegations senior PNG officials were bribed by Australian providers of offshore detention services.

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