Corruption fighting heavyweight comes to QLD
The former NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) Commissioner who lead the investigation into corrupt coal licenses that brought down the NSW government will be the keynote speaker at Accountability and the Law, a conference examining ways to safeguard Queensland against corruption.
The Hon David Ipp AO QC will provide a unique insight into the actual events surrounding the infamous dealings of Eddie Obeid, Ian McDonald and others, and look at lessons Queensland can draw from the ICAC experience.
The conference will ask whether these kinds of issues stop at the border, and discuss other urgent accountability issues in Queensland including controversies over recent changes to the Crime and Corruption Commission, judicial appointments, political donations and the influence of industry lobbyists.
The conference will hear a range of QLD’s top accountability and anti-corruption experts. Speakers include two former QLD Integrity commissioners; Dr David Solomon and Gary Crooke QC, former Crime and Misconduct Commission Commissioner Philip Nase, recently retired Supreme Court Judge the Hon. George Fryberg QC, and QLD’s leading academics on accountability issues Professor Graeme Orr and Professor AJ Brown.
“With Queensland ‘open for business’ and vast resource projects in particular clamoring for regulatory approval and government support, the pressure is on, and the stakes are enormous,” says accountability expert Professor A J Brown from Griffith University’s Centre for Governance and Public Policy.
“Are Queensland’s laws and institutions equipped to ensure the integrity of government in an age of increasingly aggressive global competition?”
Both the Government and Opposition parties have been invited to attend and outline their accountability policies in the lead up to the 2015 state election. The conference will be held at Customs House Brisbane on 9th February next year.