View the recording of this speech here.
Record of Proceedings, 20 August 2024
In rising to make some comments on the Crime and Corruption and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024, I want to acknowledge the work undertaken by the Parliamentary Crime and Corruption Committee in this term of parliament. In my role chairing that committee, I have become quite familiar with many of the reforms that will be implemented through this bill arising from the 2021 five-year review of the CCC’s legislation. In that process, there was obviously a review of recommendations from the 2016 five-year review which had not been implemented—in 2021 the committee determined in its report to not adopt some of those 2016 recommendations after having considered the matters again—and the 2021 inquiry into the investigation and dismissal of seven Logan City councillors.
Some of the matters which are dealt with in this bill certainly came to the fore and I will discuss a few of them, starting with the recommendation which will be implemented in this bill that at least two of the ordinary commissioners of the CCC have a background in community engagement and community service. This is a commonsense reform to the CCC to ensure that the commissioners, who are essentially the board for the CCC, have a broad range of skills and experience. I also want to touch on the changes to tenure requirements for the chairperson, deputy chairperson and commissioners of the CCC and acknowledge that a recommendation was made by the PCCC that there be a single fixed non-renewable term for those positions. This was seen as important so that there could be no question or perception that people acting in those roles may be acting in a way so as to ensure their reappointment. Ensuring they can serve only one term takes away that actual risk or perception of risk.
The implementation of this recommendation in the bill differs somewhat from that recommended by the committee in that it mandates that there must be a seven-year term. As set out in the statement of reservation, the reason that I have expressed some reservation with this provision is that, unique to public sector positions, the CCC chairperson and commissioners are appointed following a bipartisan recommendation process and that process goes not only to the person to be appointed to the role but also to the length of that tenure. Essentially, by mandating in legislation that it must be a seven-year term, it makes that bipartisan decision-making process a little bit more difficult in that it is essentially a yes or no to both the person and the term. There is no room for discussion or bipartisan negotiation about that which should be able to be done because the PCCC, unique to the committees of this parliament, has a very specific monitoring and oversight role of the CCC and, as a result and through that legislation and the bipartisan support requirement, should be able to have that input into the process, but this bill takes that away.
I want to also reflect on the memorandum of understanding that has been entered into between the DPP and the CCC—and it is good to see—in relation to the laying of charges and the process for obtaining advice from the DPP before charges are laid under the CCC’s corruption power. The section 49 amendments set out in this bill go into that and legislate further in relation to the process that the CCC has already undertaken. There has been some concern about the exceptional circumstances carve-out from the requirement for DPP advice before charges are laid under that corruption power. Those concerns are well founded, because there is no definition of exceptional circumstances and it also leaves the fear that mistakes that were made and which were highlighted quite plainly by the Logan City Council report may be made again in the future because there is that ability in the legislation for that to occur. This is something that I know the PCCC will continue to look at into the future to ensure that mistakes that were made in the past are not made again. A range of other amendments are being put in place from the 2016 review, from the 2021 review, from the Logan City Council review and from the commission of inquiry by Fitzgerald and Wilson. However, there is nothing from the Holmes review in this bill, so I cannot include that.
The point to be made, which has been made very well by the member for Clayfield—and I want to associate myself with the comments he made earlier in the debate—is that the pace of change for this legislation is glacial. It is very slow. It has been more than eight years since the 2016 review by the PCCC was handed down, yet only now are we seeing debate on the floor of this House and changes to legislation that should have been put in place many years ago. Even things arising from the 2021 review have been out there for more than three years, and we go further with the Logan City Council and the Wilson and Fitzgerald inquiry. The pace of change has been too slow for problems that have been identified over many years.
When it comes to the corruption power, neither this bill nor any of the foreshadowed amendments pick up on the most important issue affecting the CCC today, which is in relation to public reporting on corruption matters. This problem has arisen as a result of a Queensland Court of Appeal decision that the CCC was unable to publicly report on corruption investigations except in particular circumstances. That decision was handed down two years ago and 11 months ago a High Court decision confirmed that decision. It found that our Queensland laws do not allow public reporting on corruption matters in the way that has been understood to be the case ever since the CJC was put in place by Mike Ahern and the National Party government in 1989. That was the understanding.
Mr Power interjected.
I take that interjection: it was a great government, led by a great man—Mike Ahern—that implemented the Fitzgerald inquiry lock, stock and barrel. I thank the member for Logan for the interjection because it gives me the opportunity to mention Premier Mike Ahern and the members who implemented the Fitzgerald recommendations lock, stock and barrel. That is in stark contrast to members opposite who are failing to give back to the CCC the power to publicly report—power that everyone always thought they had. Where is the Bill Gunn of the Labor Party of Queensland today? Where is the Mike Ahern of the Labor Party of Queensland today? Where are the people opposite who will stand up and say the right thing and give back to the CCC their power to publicly report?
Government members interjected.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Hart): Pause the clock. Members, there is way too much interjection. I will start warning people in a minute.
Mr de BRENNI: Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise to a point of order. Before you assumed the chair, your colleague deputy speaker provided advice to the member for Maroochydore about straying into content in relation to a private member’s bill. From what I can hear from the member for Scenic Rim, that is occurring again. I would urge you to remind members of their obligations in terms of relevance to this bill and save their contributions for later. Mr
DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, Leader of the House. Member for Scenic Rim, I know you know this bill inside and out. I ask you to stick to the bill.
In making some closing comments about the bill, again I point out that the pace of change for CCC legislation in Queensland has been absolutely glacial. It has been eight years since the first five-year review was handed down and only now are we seeing changes being debated in parliament to give effect to those recommendations. While we are not opposing the bill, those points need to be made, as do other points in relation to the public reporting power. I make that point, and it is entirely relevant to the bill, because with all of the changes that are being implemented in this bill, as worthy as they are—I do not completely agree with all of them, but on the whole it is a bill that we can agree with—without the public reporting power for corruption it has particular limiting effects. That is another question for another time, but it is relevant to the changes that are being made in this bill and the usefulness that they will have for the CCC in the context of the legislation that they have in place right now.