Queensland corruption watchdog should reject donations inquiry, says civil liberties figure
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Version 0 of 1. Queensland’s crime and corruption commission should resist any moves by the Palaszczuk government to have it run a public inquiry into donations to the previous LNP government, the state’s Council for Civil Liberties has said. The council’s vice-president, Terry O’Gorman, said Labor calls to have the CCC conduct the probe betrayed a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of the watchdog, which “should not be used by the government of the day”. The government this week revealed it would push ahead with a pre-election pledge to have the CCC examine the possibility of links between political donors and favourable government decisions in light of concerns about the conduct of the former Newman government. The deputy premier, Jackie Trad, conceded on Wednesday that “theoretically, the CCC can say no” to a request by the government for an inquiry that was “not a witch hunt [but] about ensuring that the public has confidence in the way in which government decisions are made”. However, O’Gorman said the government “should not even request the CCC to conduct an inquiry into something that is clearly a political matter”. “It unacceptably politicises the CCC in the eyes of the public and we would urge the new chairman to reject an approach to set up an inquiry into donations to the [Liberal National party],” he said. The premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, wrote to the key independent MP Peter Wellington in February to promise that: “Once the new, independent chair of the anti-corruption watchdog is appointed, Labor will hold a public inquiry into links, if any, between donations to political parties and the awarding of tenders, contracts and approvals.” “The anti-corruption watchdog has the powers of a standing royal commission and will be able to thoroughly investigate these issues,” she said. Trad said matters that warranted scrutiny included the New Acland coalmine, Sibelco’s Stradbroke Island sandmine and Karreman Quarries. All received favourable legislative changes or approvals from the former LNP government to whom its proponents made contributions. However, the Palaszczuk government also gave environmental approval to New Acland last week. It has been criticised by environmental activists for allowing the approval of the mine expansion before announcing moves to instigate the inquiry. The government’s renewed move on the inquiry this week coincides with the arrival of new chair Alan MacSporran at the CCC, who replaces the highly-controversial LNP appointment Ken Levy. The Council of Civil Liberties’ position backs that of the opposition leader, Lawrence Springborg, who said Palaszczuk was “politicising the Crime and Corruption Commission in Queensland, this is completely wrong and she should move away from that immediately”. “If you’re going to hold a genuine inquiry that Queenslanders can have confidence in, then it needs to be holistic and treat all sides equally,” Springborg said, adding that union donations to Labor should also be scrutinised. Trad said union donations were unlikely to be examined because governments did not award tenders and contracts to trade unions. “It’s about the donations to the political party of the day that’s governing and decisions made by that government in relation to awarding tenders and to spend government money,” she said. An alternative for the government would be to run an inquiry through the parliamentary crime and corruption committee. However, one MP told Guardian Australia the committee would have limited scope to get to the bottom of any allegations of corruption. O’Gorman said while Labor’s call for CCC involvement “would be seen by many as a political exercise, if the premier wants to fulfil an election promise, a better way is set up a standalone inquiry under the Commissions of Inquiry Act”. But recent controversy around Dyson Heydon at the helm of the national royal commission into trade union governance and corruption offered a cautionary tale if the government chose this route, he said. “It needs to ensure it is completely apolitical in its terms of reference and that whoever heads it has no connections to the ALP,” he said. O’Gorman said it could “not afford a Queensland repeat of Dyson Heydon”, whose scheduled speech at a New South Wales Liberal party fundraiser prompted calls for him to stand aside on the grounds of perceived bias against the union movement and Labor figures. |