The independence and integrity of Victoria’s new anti-corruption commission could already be compromised because of meddling and sloppiness by the Baillieu Government, Shadow Minister Jill Hennessy said today.
Ms Hennessy said the minister responsible for its establishment, Andrew McIntosh, seemed all at sea on the threshold requirements needed to establish the anti-corruption commission, and had twice compromised its independence by publicly indicating what it should and should not investigate.
“The new independent anti-corruption commission has not even been set up, but already we have the Baillieu Government compromising its integrity with political interference,” Ms Hennessy said.
“Andrew McIntosh needs to understand that it’s his job to set up the commission – not provide it with briefs of evidence.
“He can’t claim on the one hand that the new body will be independent, and then in the very next breath list the matters he thinks it should investigate.
"Victorians have every right to be suspicious of the Government's motives when the Minister is dictating what a supposedly independent commission should and should not be investigating.
"If the new IBAC is really going to be independent, it can't have a Government minister breathing down its neck about who should and should not be investigated.
"Andrew McIntosh has twice now stated in public who he thinks the IBAC should target – and not surprisingly it seems like a very political hitlist.
“It’s not possible to establish an independent commission that is beholden to the whims and fancies of a Government Minister.”
Ms Hennessy said the Baillieu Government had also been caught out trying to shift blame on to the Federal Parliament for its own sloppiness in preparing the relevant legislation.
“Andrew McIntosh wanted Victorians to believe that the new IBAC’s commencement will be delayed because of the Commonwealth, but it turns the delay is his own fault after failing to make a formal application for the enabling legislation until late last week,” Ms Hennessy said.
“The Baillieu Government promised the commission would be up and running in July this year but now we learn that Mr McIntosh has kicked an own goal by failing to do the proper preparatory work.
“Victorians want an anti-corruption body that is fearless of the government it may have to investigate. The Minister should not compromise its independence before he has even worked out how to set it up.”