National anti-corruption commissioner promises to be 'fearless but fair', revealing 44 complaints already received
National anti-corruption commissioner promises to be 'fearless but fair', revealing 44 complaints already received
The National Anti-Corruption Commission commences with a full workload, as people waste no time making referrals, and the commissioner Paul Brereton makes a promise to take every complaint seriously.
Key points (from ABC article): -Forty-four complaints have been made to the National Anti-Corruption Commission since it opened its doors on Saturday -Commissioner Paul Brereton says he may hold public hearings, but will also call out people who seek to weaponise the NACC -The NACC will aim to complete 90 per cent of its inquiries within a year
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https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Anti-Corruption_Commission_(Australia)
It will not be able to make a finding of criminality.[30] The NACC will have the power to investigate pork barrelling.[31][23] It will not have the power to sack parliamentarians.[32]
So another toothless tiger, newly born, pending it can bite.
If it could do either of those, it would be in charge of government defacto as any offending politicians can just be investigated and sacced with no limits.
IF found guilty of corruption. So it can find them guilty and the government of the day can just ignore it to maintain a majority.
I am not saying it is guaranteed that it would descend into corruption, but surely you can see how a body with the singular power to investigate and judge the only people who can constrain it would be ripe for abuse?
Since they report to a standing committee made up of MPs, giving them the unilateral power to investigate and judge those same MPs gives them a good deal of power.
Alternatively, if those MPs are somehow "immune" to prevent this, then it gives THOSE MPs an outsized bit of power in government.
The biggest danger is if the corruption is used subtly since we wouldn't even notice; it would even look like they are "rooting out corruption"
The alternative is what we have now, the premier of NSW found guilty of corruption with zero accountability or consequences. Nice paid role at Optus as head of government business acquisition.