Issue cannot be ignored any longer, says group comprising former premiers and government officials, barristers and judges

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

High-profile Australians have renewed calls for a federal independent commission against corruption (Icac) after weeks of political expenses scandals that have led to the resignation of a federal minister.

They have labelled corruption a “national issue that cannot be ignored any longer”.



The call comes as more than 85% of Australians polled this week said they supported a federal body to investigate corruption.

Asked “do you think there is corruption in federal politics?”, 85.3% of respondents said yes, Fairfax reported on Saturday. More than 55% believed there was “a lot”.

About 82% supported the establishment of a federal independent commission against corruption, and 11% were undecided.

Sussan Ley quits as health minister as Turnbull outlines reform to expenses Read more

The poll was conducted by the Australian Institute – a progressive think-tank, which has previously lobbied for the federal investigative body.

The open letter calling for an Icac was signed by more than 40 leading Australians, including the former Western Australia premier Geoff Gallop; the former New South Wales director of public prosecutions Nicholas Cowdery; the president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Ged Kearney; and others including barristers, judges and academic heads.

“The public is sick and tired of the lack of accountability revealed by repeated scandals involving federal politicians and others,” the letter said.

“In NSW where an anti-corruption commission is active, serious cases of corruption in political and government circles have been uncovered. Ongoing federal scandals involving federal politicians, whether concerning breaches of travel entitlements, political donations or otherwise, show that the serious wrongdoing uncovered in NSW is unlikely to be limited to the state governments and state politicians.”

People 'expect' politicians to claim expenses for sporting events, says Steven Ciobo Read more

Sussan Ley resigned from her post as health minister on Friday after mounting revelations of questionable travel expenses.

Several other ministers and politicians from the Coalition and Labor were also found to have made questionable claims. Four Coalition ministers had charged taxpayers for their trip to Sydney to attend Malcolm Turnbull’s New Year’s Eve party. Others, including the foreign minister, Julie Bishop, and the trade minister, Steve Ciobo, claimed entitlements to attend sporting events.

No other ministers have stepped down or admitted fault, saying their entitlements are within the rules.

The acting special minister for state, Kelly O’Dwyer, announced on Tuesday that those rules would be changed and the government would now act on all 36 recommendations from last year’s review into the system, sparked by Bronwyn Bishop’s helicopter scandal.

Turnbull announced Ley’s resignation after receiving the findings of an investigation into her travel claims from the secretary of his department, which he refused to release publicly. During the news conference, he also announced a new plan to create an independent agency to regulate and adjudicate MPs’ expenses, and to require them to report expenses every month rather than just twice a year.



Jonathon Hunyor, chief executive of the public interest advocacy centre, and a signatory to Saturday’s letter, said Turnbull’s pledge was a step in the right direction, but more detail was needed.

“One of the concerns people have is there are a range of mechanisms at the moment for looking at government accountability and integrity issues, but there is a case for an overarching body that can coordinate those and possibly beef them up.”

Where there is a “systemic pattern of problems” an Icac would have a role, he said, but a lot of work was needed to get the right model.

“[The NSW Icac] has been very very successful in many respects but there are concerns about the impact on people’s reputations and the way it has gone about its business. They’re legitimate things to be discussed.”

The issues are wider than just travel entitlement concerns, Hunyor said, citing political donations as an example, but the past week’s controversy had provided another opportunity to bring attention back onto government accountability.

Minor parties and crossbenchers are in favour of Turnbull’s plans to increase transparency, but said on Saturday it should be within a national anti-corruption watchdog.

Parliamentary expenses: government to clarify what ‘official business’ means Read more

The Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, said on Saturday changes were necessary “to build a bit more trust back into our institutions”.



“Let’s have this parliamentary authority established,” he told the ABC.



But it was critical, Di Natale said, that the body sat within a national anti-corruption regulator.



“The idea that that federal parliament is immune to corruption, I believe, is ludicrous,” he said.



Senator Nick Xenophon said independent pressure on MPs to cover their own expenses rather than rely on taxpayers would be effective.



“There’s nothing like pinching a pollie’s hip pocket nerve to make them change their ways,” he told Nine Network.

