Revamp of CMC gets nod from MPs

A CONTROVERSIAL restructuring of Queensland’s watchdog has been given the green light.

A REVAMP of Queensland’s watchdog, which will lead to a primary focus on serious crime rather than official corruption, has been given the green light by a Newman government-dominated parliamentary committee.

The legal affairs committee last night recommended parliament pass the legislative changes for the Crime and Misconduct Commission, including ditching a requirement for bipartisan support for any incoming head of the watchdog.

The proposed amendments have drawn widespread opposition, including from corruption fighter Tony Fitzgerald, who ­accused the Newman government of trying to undermine the CMC’s independence for the ­future benefit of Liberal National Party politicians

Even CMC acting chairman Ken Levy, who last year consulted with Newman government advisers before backing a crackdown on bikies, has rallied against the changes which will make the primary focus of the agency on serious crime.

But the committee, which includes independent MP Peter Wellington, has ignored Dr Levy’s concerns that it would become the only watchdog in Australia without its primary aim of combating serious corruption.

The committee has also backed the government in removing the need for bipartisan support on the Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Committee — the agency’s oversight body — for the appointment of a chair or any commissioners.

Instead, the committee has recommended that the government give the PCMC the power to veto any appointment of the commissioners. “The committee considers a process similar to that used in NSW for the ­appointment of Independent Commission Against Corruption commissioners is ­appropriate,’’ the committee said.

The recommendation does not ensure bipartisan support because the PCMC can be dominated by MPs from the government of the day.

The legal affairs committee’s 159-page report said the proposed removal of the requirement for bipartisan support had drawn the most criticism, including from the Bar Association of Queensland, Queensland Law Society, Mr Fitzgerald and several former CMC commissioners. But committee chairman Ian Berry, an LNP MP, said the majority decision of the committee was that total bipartisan approval was an out-of-date model.

“I don’t think bipartisanship really was what was recommended by Tony Fitzgerald (in his 1989 report); in fact he made no recommendation,” Mr Berry said. “In fact bipartisanship was a different era, it was a time when there was corruption, when there was an almost meeting of minds of both opposition and government and they decided to adopt that stance. Times have moved on.”

Labor and independent MPs on the committee also lost their push to overturn a ban on anonymous tip offs and the requirement for complainants to sign statutory declarations.

Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie would not say whether he would adopt the amendments.