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National crime watchdog NACC’s lacklustre first two years

Two years after the Albanese government established the National Anti-Corruption Commission, Australians are entitled to ask: What has it achieved? Not a lot, judging by its record. And as NSW editor Stephen Rice reports, concerns have arisen among senior legal figures and former judges, including some who supported the organisation’s creation. The NACC received at least $125m in taxpayer funding from July 1, 2023 to March this year.

NACC Commissioner Paul Brereton is under fire over the body’s first finding of misconduct against a public official. He shielded the identity of a senior public servant who lied and abused her position to get her sister’s fiance a plum government job. Such lack of transparency cannot be justified. The hearings were described by Mr Brereton as “a paradigm example of nepotism” that constituted significant and serious corrupt conduct. But the woman, who has since resigned from the public service, was not identified or recommended for prosecution. Mr Brereton argued she “did not occupy high-profile positions that would ordinarily justify greater public accountability”. In one text the woman, identified by the pseudonym “Joanne Simeson”, boasted “I’m the boss so they will do whatever I say”. There is no justification for the lack of transparency in not naming her or the NACC’s secrecy overkill. On Friday, Rice received an email from the NACC warning that if he revealed her identity he could go to jail for two years.

The Australian was less concerned about the hearings being conducted in private. We have consistently opposed NSW ICAC-style show trials, which have taken public exposure to absurd lengths, out of proportion with the scale and seriousness of the conduct being investigated. Too often, such hearings have not led to charges of wrongdoing but to needless humiliation for those involved. Former NSW Liberal premier Barry O’Farrell, for example, resigned in 2014 over an undeclared gift of a $3000 bottle of wine after an ICAC investigation. He was never charged with anything. Another ex-NSW premier, Nick Greiner, and barrister Margaret Cunneen SC suffered humiliation and harm to their reputations before ICAC findings were set aside by properly constituted courts.

On substantial matters relevant to commonwealth issues, the NACC did not engender confidence in its failure to investigate the $2.4m commonwealth payout to Brittany Higgins after the matter was referred to it by her former boss, defence minister Linda Reynolds. Ms Reynolds lodged a complaint in October 2023 against former attorney-general Mark Dreyfus over his handling of the massive compensation payment. The public remains none the wiser about how the amount was arrived at. The NACC also declined to investigate six public officials referred to it by the Robodebt royal commission for possible corruption, a decision that led to a finding of “officer misconduct” against Mr Brereton over a conflict of interest in the case.

Long before the Albanese government’s election in May 2022, the push for a national corruption watchdog was a popular campaign theme for Labor, the teals and the Greens. There was a risk, we argued, that such a body could duplicate the work of other agencies responsible for upholding the law, such as the Australian Federal Police, Australian Securities & Investments Commission and, most importantly, the courts. That has not proved to be the case.

As the NACC begins its third year, its future, its modus operandi and its ability to provide a deterrent against corruption is a matter for the Attorney-General Michelle Rowland and the government. When the NACC opened its doors, Mr Brereton said its main concern would be “to what extent a corruption investigation by the commission is likely to add value in the public interest”. At this stage, there is little evidence it has.

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/editorials/national-crime-watchdog-naccs-lacklustre-first-two-years/news-story/93b148f618078f3a285804a6108108e2