National Anti-Corruption Commission confirms it has six investigations underway involving current or former politicians

The anti-corruption watchdog has six investigations underway probing the conduct of current or former politicians.

The Australian coat of arms above the front entrance of Parliament House in Canberra.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission has six investi­gations under way probing the conduct of current or former politicians; another three investigations concern the behaviour of past or present parliamentary staff.

The revelation that sitting or former MPs are the subject of NACC investigations is contained in its latest operational update, with a total of 29 corruption probes on foot: 26 of those started in the 2023-24 reporting period.

It is unclear which current or former politicians and staffers the NACC is investigating.

Former Liberal minister Stuart Robert, a close ally of Scott Morrison, was referred to the NACC last year by a Labor-led parliamentary committee over his links to consulting firm Synergy 360.

Labor MP Julian Hill, now a frontbencher, chaired the joint public accounts and audit committee at the time of Mr Robert’s referral and said the decision was not taken lightly but “there appears no other appropriate course of action”.

Coalition MPs didn’t provide a dissenting report but were concerned by Labor’s use of the NACC for political purposes, saying government committee members had requested the watchdog undertake an investigation “based on unsubstantiated allegations”.

It was also revealed by News.com.au in August that the home of former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann was raided by the NACC in June over potential document leaks to do with the failed French submarine deal.

His former media minder John Macgowan also had his home raided.

Both men have strongly denied the allegations, dismissing the investigation as pure conspiracy theory.

Federal Court judge Michael Lee found following a defamation trial that on the balance of probabilities Mr Lehrmann raped his former Liberal Party colleague Brittany Higgins.

Mr Lehrmann has always denied the rape allegation and is appealing his defamation case loss to Network Ten and presenter Lisa Wilkinson.

The NACC was also examining in December a complaint by former Liberal minister Linda Reynolds, who is retiring at the federal election, against ­Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus over his handling of the $2.3m compensation payout to Ms Higgins, to determine if an investigation should be launched.

In June, the NACC confirmed it would not pursue six senior public officials who had been referred to it by the royal commission into the robodebt scheme after deciding it was unlikely to “obtain significant new evidence”.

The NACC has six matters before the court.

Its investigations also capture law enforcement officials, consultants and contractors, and span procurement, recruitment, corrupt conduct at the border, grants and misconduct in law enforcement.

“The above categories do not capture all the corruption investigations and some investi­gations fall under multiple categories, but they provide a flavour of the commission’s activities,” the NACC says in a statement.

“In considering them, it is important to remember that most corruption investigations do not ultimately result in a finding of corrupt conduct.”