Felicity Caldwell reports in the Brisbane Times (15.5.17) on the proceedings of a Senate select committee inquiry into establishing a national integrity commission. The inquiry has heard from TJ Ryan Foundation Research Associate, AJ Brown, who also commented on the anti-corruption framework in Queensland.
‘The Federal Parliament should assume that there is more corruption yet to be exposed, a governance and public policy expert says.
‘Griffith University professor AJ Brown made the comments at a Senate Select Committee investigating the adequacy of the federal government’s current framework to address corruption and misconduct and whether a national integrity commission should be created.
‘”I think the committee and the Parliament should be working on the basis that the prevalence of low-level petty corruption and potentially systemic mid-level corruption on a Commonwealth level is probably higher than anybody has currently documented,” he said.
‘… Speaking about Queensland, Professor Brown said the the anti-corruption aspects of the Crime and Corruption Commission began to be “whittled down” during the former Newman government, which prioritised its organised crime function.
‘”Both in terms of political mandate, legislative authority, legislative obligations, resources, giving it extra money, but only for the organised crime functions, not for the anti-corruption functions,” Professor Brown said.
‘”What happened during that period was a skewing of the commission through fairly explicit government policy”.’
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