Add Category
Posted
ICAC (Independent Commissioner Against Corruption): Four letters that can send a chill down the spine of any bureaucrat or minister.
The New South Wales ICAC has seen a parade of politicians and public servants front public hearings to explain themselves.
Some have gone on to face charges and end up behind bars.
In other states, the letters are different — IBAC (Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission), CCC (Corruption and Crime Commission) or CCC (Crime and Corruption Commission) elicit similar chills.
But South Australia's ICAC is an altogether different beast.
Commissioner and former judge Bruce Lander conducts his investigations in strict secrecy.
It's illegal in SA to reveal that an ICAC investigation is underway, or that a matter had been referred to the commissioner — unless the commissioner himself chooses to publicise the information.
The stealth was intended. The Weatherill Government — dragged to the point of establishing an ICAC after spending years decrying the need for one — was eager to avoid the "star chamber" approach in New South Wales, where reputations were dragged to the public mud before charges would ever be laid.
The SA Government argued that ICAC was an investigative body and, if it established a case of corruption, the matter would ultimately be dealt with in full public view by the courts.
But under the ICAC Act Commissioner Lander has another important role.
At his choosing, he can exercise the powers of an Ombudsman to investigate what he considers to be serious cases of misconduct or maladministration — conduct unlikely to result in criminal charges, but nonetheless a serious threat to the good governance of the state.
He has chosen to exercise this power by launching an investigation into the Oakden nursing home abuse scandal.
Like the investigation into the Government's controversial sale of land at Gillman two years ago, the Oakden matter will be heard behind closed doors.
Eventually, the commissioner may choose to release a public report of his findings.
The report into the Gillman matter slapped two senior bureaucrats for maladministration.
Premier Jay Weatherill and Minister Tom Koutsantonis were cleared, but not before the latter was called out for crude language when dealing with his agency.
Commissioner Lander has been a strong supporter of the secrecy provisions surrounding his office. But in the wake of Gillman, he had a change of heart.
He requested that the Government consider allowing him to hold public hearings, but only when he is exercising his role to investigate maladministration.
"I made that recommendation to protect myself so that people would understand and would be satisfied that the way in which the investigation was carried out was transparent and was conducted appropriately," Mr Lander told a parliamentary committee.
The idea was ignored by the SA Government and its chief lawmaker Attorney-General John Rau.
Commissioner Lander offered some interesting reflections on that decision yesterday.
When asked why the idea lacked political support, Bruce Lander mused on the fact that public hearings were an ongoing process and the publicity surrounding them had the potential to cause political damage.
It is an interesting point for the South Australian Government to reflect on, as it rails against what has been dubbed a culture of cover-up at an institutional level, which led to the Oakden mess.
Topics: government-and-politics, healthcare-facilities, health-policy, health, states-and-territories, government-and-politics, federal---state-issues, oakden-5086, adelaide-5000, sa