Corruption watchdog is 'seriously flawed'

EXCLUSIVE

The Baillieu government's leading expert on its anti-corruption watchdog has broken his silence to reveal he believes the body is ''seriously flawed'' and the Coalition has constrained its powers.

Former Court of Appeal judge Stephen Charles, QC, who chaired the government's four-person expert panel on the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission, said it was unlikely the watchdog would be able to investigate the kind of corruption allegations engulfing the New South Wales Labor Party.

Mr Charles said that before it begins an investigation, IBAC is required to have enough of the facts to reach a reasonable conclusion that serious corruption may have occurred. A mere suspicion is not enough, he said.

''One will often begin a corruption investigation with a mere suspicion, and time and time again during the [NSW] inquiry it has been plain that it began with suspicion and no direct knowledge of corrupt behaviour,'' Mr Charles said.

''In my view the [IBAC] legislation is seriously flawed. There are significant barriers that have been set up. It will be possible for suspected persons - as soon as they are aware that an investigation is under way - to take steps to challenge IBAC in court, thus delaying the investigation and giving those suspected of corruption the chance to destroy vital evidence.''

Before the IBAC legislation was finalised, Mr Charles and the other experts spent months consulting lawyers, judges, academics, police, the journalists' union and the public service about the watchdog's powers and scope.

On Monday Premier Ted Baillieu wrote to IBAC asking it to assess whether there should be an investigation into revelations the Liberal Party paid $22,500 to ministerial police adviser Tristan Weston. It also emerged that his chief of staff, Tony Nutt, offered to find Mr Weston employment.

Meanwhile, Liberal MP Clem Newton-Brown was last week elected chairman of a new parliamentary committee to oversee IBAC. Mr Newton-Brown is a strong supporter of the Team 200 fund-raising group responsible for Planning Minister Matthew Guy's developer dinners in 2011 and 2012, revealed by Fairfax on Tuesday.

Though no longer formally associated with Team 200, Mr Newton-Brown said he continued to help it raise funds to support Liberal MPs in marginal seats.

theage.com.au 5 Mar 2013

Going to a corrupt authority exposing corruption is a little pointless.

At the end of the day one becomes the target, and the allegations made against the corruption are dismissed.

Yet another win for the corrupt authorities.