As the NACC Bill returns to Parliament today, the country’s leading integrity organisations and experts are making a united call for the elimination of the ‘exceptional circumstances’ threshold for public hearings. The Centre for Public Integrity, Transparency International Australia, the Human Rights Law Centre, the Accountability Roundtable, the Ethics Centre, the Governance Institute and the… Read More
Big, big government is running a big, big advertising campaign
By Tom Dusevic, originally published on October 22 in The Australian. You can get it readin’. You can get it drivin’. You can get it scrollin’ your social feed. In 2020, a big, big government is running a big, big advertising campaign. Since April, the Morrison government has launched $135m of new taxpayer-funded advertising to… Read More
Federal anti-ICAC forces ‘to exploit sympathy for Gladys Berejiklian’s plight’
By Stephen Rice, originally published on October 19 in The Australian. The last time Stephen Charles QC heard the words “my little mate” at a corruption inquiry was 34 years ago, as a young barrister probing the scandal that nearly ended the reign of legendary NSW premier Neville Wran. A few days ago he listened… Read More
Louise Waterhouse met with top officials and Angus Taylor over land near Western Sydney airport
Christopher Knaus, originally published in the Guardian on 17 October. Three federal infrastructure department officials and federal MP Angus Taylor separately met with Louise Waterhouse while she lobbied for potentially lucrative changes to her vast landholdings near the Western Sydney airport. The meetings, which anti-corruption experts say are a “rarity for the average citizen”, have prompted calls… Read More
Scrutiny to drop: Auditor-General appeals to Prime Minister for funding certainty
By Sally Whyte, originally published by the Canberra Times on the 30th of September. Auditor-General Grant Hehir has written to the Prime Minister about his office’s funding. Picture: Dion Georgopoulos The Auditor-General has appealed directly to Prime Minister Scott Morrison over his office’s funding, and has warned scrutiny of government decision-making will drop without an… Read More