Journalists and police join forces to oppose corruption investigation secrecy.
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| Queensland police commissioner Ian Stewart has made one of the few submissions to the state’s Crime and Corruption Commission arguing for corruption referrals to remain public. Photograph: Dave Hunt/AA |
Majority of submissions to Queensland’s Crime and Corruption Commission favour confidential complaints to remove risk of politically motivated referrals.
Media organisations have gained an unlikely ally in the Queensland police in arguing for their continued right to report complaints made to the state’s corruption watchdog.
But an overwhelming majority of other establishment bodies support criminal sanctions against the public airing of complaints, from the Liberal National party to the Council for Civil Liberties, the office of the information commissioner and even Queensland Rail.
The clashing views are contained in submissions to the Crime and Corruption Commission, which has flagged a possible push for laws to force those referring alleged corruption for investigation to remain silent until a probe is complete.
The CCC has raised the prospect of Queensland following South Australia – the only Australian jurisdiction that requires confidentiality from whistleblowers during corruption investigations – after it fielded a spike of complaints during this year’s local government elections.
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