A REVIEW of Queensland's crime and corruption watchdog recommends keeping allegations secret, prosecuting people who make malicious claims and culling the government's ethical standards units.
The state government asked former High Court judge Ian Callinan to review the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC), claiming it had allowed itself to be used by those with an axe to grind.
Mr Callinan's 17 recommendations were released on Wednesday.
They include overhauling the CMC's administrative structure and complaints process.
Some of the more controversial recommendations would allow the government to deny Right to Information requests for nine months without a reason.
Ethical standards units within government departments would disappear or be greatly reduced, with investigations centralised through the Public Service Commission.
Mr Callinan wants the CMC to free up its limited resources by canning all research, unless it's approved by the government.
No more educational material should be produced, such as codes of conduct for state and local governments, which were labelled "unremarkable".
Mr Callinan describes the CMC as being bogged down with bureaucracy.
In one year, it received 5000 complaints, but fewer than 100 needed to be pursued.
One of the most wasteful claims was that a prison cell was left untidy after a police search.
Mr Callinan says to reduce the avalanche of complaints, those who make "baseless, vexatious, reckless, or malicious" claims could be prosecuted and fined.
Complaints would only be made public if investigations led to criminal proceedings or proceedings in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Premier Campbell Newman is no stranger to CMC complaints.
He was the target of a few during the 2012 election campaign.
They were later found to be baseless.
He believes the CMC needs significant reform.
"We need to ensure that the CMC is not used to settle personal or political scores," he said.
"We need reforms to ensure the organisation focuses on the big issues of corruption and official misconduct, but particularly on organised criminal gangs that have unfortunately started infiltrating Queensland.
"That's where the scarce dollars should be going."
Mr Newman said he was committed to maintaining the CMC's independence, but said it needed to be more accountable to parliament and Queenslanders.
Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk said the recommendations would erode the CMC's independence and discourage whistleblowers from reporting corruption.
"We are a seeing a muzzle put on the independent watchdog," she told reporters.
"This government has a vendetta against the CMC."
Terry O'Gorman, from the Queensland Council of Civil Liberties, is concerned the CMC's research would have to be approved by the government.
"It is a dangerous proposal. It would be subject to political dictation of the day," he said.
The review recommends that a four person panel, including the CMC chair, should implement the recommendations.
The CMC issued a short statement on Wednesday saying it wouldn't be appropriate to comment because any reform would be driven by the new panel.
Mr Newman is yet to say what recommendations could be adopted or when a decision would be made.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Qld watchdog bogged down, review says
Dengan url
http://mesinjahitan.blogspot.com/2013/04/qld-watchdog-bogged-down-review-says.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Qld watchdog bogged down, review says
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Qld watchdog bogged down, review says
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar