Wednesday, 16 August 2023

Integrity and Oversight Committee

The Independent Performance Audits of the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission and the Victorian Inspectorate

Tim BULL (Gippsland East) (10:21): It was my intention to use the committee reports this morning to report on the lack of fuel reduction burning in this state, but try as hard as I might, I could not find a link to that in any of the reports that have been tabled thus far, so, like many others, I will resort to making my contribution on the Integrity and Oversight Committee’s inquiry on the independent performance audits of the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission and the Victorian Inspectorate tabled on 22 October last year.

I want to cover a little bit about the minority report that was put forward at the time. As most will be aware, we had a little bit going on in that period – I do not think any members of the chamber would deny that – with multiple chairs and other things going on. But there were some matters that were raised in the minority report that we do need to consider around transparency and openness. I do not think any members of this place would challenge the fact that they are very, very important elements to have in place. The minority report raises issues around this. I guess it infers that in some cases there was interference by government, and there were concerns raised about actions by the public sector.

We know one of the roles of this committee, and it goes to the very heart of this committee, is to keep our agencies and departments accountable. They do this through monitoring and through reviewing the various performances of those entities. Decisions have to be made with transparency in the best interests of our taxpayers in Victoria, keeping in mind that oversight agencies like IBAC and the Victorian Inspectorate have a very key role to play in overseeing this and giving our taxpayers confidence in the system, so we want them to do their jobs properly. They need to be transparent, and they need to be funded to a level that enables them to do their jobs properly.

Concerns were raised over the level of funding that IBAC does receive and also over the scope of what they can investigate. It was therefore disappointing to hear the recent comments of the former IBAC head Robert Redlich; I will not knight him like the previous speaker on this side. Mr Redlich said he was blocked from seeking more integrity hearings to be held in the public arena, and I think that that is something that does bear strong consideration. He said that in his view political gain had been allowed over time to become more important than public interest. To have a person of his experience and eminence making comments like that is indeed of concern.

In relation to the scope of what can be investigated, that is something that as a Parliament we should consider. Mr Redlich, and indeed not just Mr Redlich but other integrity experts, has recently called for a broadening of the scope of what IBAC can investigate so that the definition of ‘corruption’ does not have to constitute a criminal offence. I think we could all agree that you can have levels of corruption that need to be investigated without a criminal offence having occurred.

I guess one of the key points that he made – I think it goes to the heart of what I am trying to say here – is that IBAC must be allowed to investigate alleged corruption without the far too onerous provision of a crime having been committed. I want to reference page iv of the preliminaries of the report, which says a role of the committee is:

to monitor and review … the duties and functions of the IBAC …

I think this statement on page iv goes to the very heart of what I have just been talking about. Taxpayers need to have confidence. They need to have confidence in the oversights and they need have confidence that these entities are resourced well enough to investigate what they need to investigate. One of the concerning matters to me, having read this report, was the publication of an email by the former member for Ringwood on 6 October 2022. Near the end of this email he said:

For certainty, the Committee will not be in a position to approve the report if the above instructions … are not actioned in their entirety.

Now, what is he saying there? I think Victorians deserve better than this, and they are the very points that these entities should be able to investigate.