The government had also promised the new commission would be run by a judge or a person with equivalent qualifications. But Mr McIntosh said the two men, who will begin their new roles on January 1, were eminently qualified after ''an exhaustive and extensive process'' to appoint them. ''With these two candidates we have got it absolutely right.'' Stephen O'Bryan. Credit:Michael Clayton-Jones But the announcement was undermined a short time later as a report by Ombudsman George Brouwer was tabled in Parliament unleashing fresh criticisms of the new system. Mr Brouwer said the scheme would ''lead to an ineffective integrity scheme'' that would hamper the Ombudsman's ability to investigate and report. He said he found it ''particularly puzzling'' that no attempt had been made by the government to deal with the concerns of senior legal figures that the new commission would only have powers to investigate ''serious corrupt conduct'', excluding grave offences such as misconduct in public office. It follows a letter sent by Mr Brouwer last month to Mr Baillieu warning the new regime represented a ''significant backward step for public sector accountability'' in Victoria that would undermine his independence - potentially violating the state constitution.

Mr Baillieu said ''of course'' he did not agree with the criticisms, suggesting the concerns raised by Mr Brouwer were unlikely to be addressed. Mr Brouwer's 10-year contract is due to expire in March 2014. Asked if he would continue in his role until the end of his contract, a spokeswoman declined to comment. She said only that the issues raised in the report ''are for the Parliament to consider. They will need to be worked through over time.'' Labor seized on the report, calling on the government to delay the final legislation for the new commission until February next year to provide more time to deal with Mr Brouwer's concerns. Mr O'Bryan is a lawyer with 30 years' experience. He was called to the bar in 1983 and was appointed Senior Counsel in 2003. Mr O'Bryan said he would tackle the new role ''without fear or favour''. Mr Brett, who was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1996 and has more than 35 years' experience in the law, said the powers of the new integrity bodies he would be monitoring ''are potentially very invasive, very intrusive, very far reaching''.

''It is of enormous importance that those powers are exercised properly and it is my function to oversee the manner in which they are exercised and ensure that they are exercised properly,'' he said. The legal community welcomed the appointments. The chairman of the Victorian section of the International Commission of Jurists, Glenn McGowan, SC, said both men were very well regarded in legal circles. But he said the positions were not enviable ones and both lawyers would be taking a significant pay cut. ''The scuttlebutt around the place is that they've had trouble filling these spots,'' Mr McGowan said. ''One possible reason for that is they're fixed-term appointments, there's no pension attached, unlike judicial appointments. The other is they're very high-profile and will invite some nasty reactions from people you're investigating and might have consequences for your family, so it's not a particularly popular position to be seeking. Loading

''The only reason I think they were thinking about [appointing] ex-judges was because they wouldn't be upset about the lack of pension because these guys they've appointed, will do their, whatever it is, five-year stint and then try and come back to the bar and perhaps struggle to pick up their practice again so it's a big ask for a barrister.'' With JANE LEE, STEVE BUTCHER