Gladys Berejiklian's decision to resign as Premier of NSW has caused many to think that a federal anti-corruption body as powerful as NSW's Independent Commission Against Corruption would be appropriate.
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Her abrupt departure may have forced the federal government's hand to legislate a Commonwealth anti-corruption body after years of delay, but don't expect it to have the same teeth as NSW's watchdog, The New Daily pointed out.
"It's certainly not a model that we ever consider at a federal level," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday.
"A monster" was how assistant attorney-general Amanda Stoker described NSW's ICAC.
Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce slammed it as "a little bit Spanish Inquisition".
In stark contrast, Australian Greens leader Adam Bandt tweeted: "If the Liberals' ICAC doesn't have teeth, it won't help clean up corruption in politics".
Even a Sydney Morning Herald editorial, not known for holding radical views, headlined "PM should use the ICAC model for federal agency".
Anyway, more than 1000 days since Morrison first promised a federal anti-corruption body (CIC), it may finally see the light of day, albeit in a form described as "weak" and "toothless" by critics.
So, what will it look like? According to an exposure draft of the model, the CIC would have two streams. A law enforcement integrity division, to investigate wrongdoing by agencies including the Australian Federal Police, Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, and the Australian Taxation Office
A public sector integrity division, to investigate federal departments and agencies, Commonwealth companies, universities and research bodies, and politicians and their staff.
It has been criticised for falling short of the powers given to NSW's ICAC. The CIC would only hold public hearings for the law enforcement side, not for the public sector. That is, politicians wouldn't be subjected to public trials, as they are in NSW's ICAC.
Why doesn't the government want NSW's ICAC model?
Further, the CIC can only investigate matters which it has a "reasonable suspicion" would meet the bar of criminal corruption, a far narrower scope than NSW's ICAC.
Former NSW Supreme Court judge Anthony Whealy called those provisions "crazy" in 2018.
Many are also critical of the fact the CIC would not have retrospective investigative powers. "It has to be able to look into the past," he told ABC Radio.
Why the delay, given that Morrison proposed the CIC in December 2018? Morrison blamed the delay on the pandemic, saying he was "not going to have one public servant diverted" from COVID management.
"We are really keen to get this done, and to get it done in a way that makes sure we get all the advantages of having an integrity body and avoid the pitfalls of those bodies that I would suggest have become almost rogue in the way that they operate," Senator Stoker told ABC's Radio National.
Why doesn't the government want NSW's ICAC model?
"You've got to have processes that assume people are innocent before thought to be guilty and that is a real problem," Morrison said. "I'm sure there are millions of people who've seen what's happened to Gladys Berejiklian. They'll understand that's a pretty good call not to follow that model."
But ICAC has not made any findings against Ms Berejiklian, nor claimed she was "guilty". Instead, ICAC simply announced it was "investigating" whether she had "engaged in conduct" which potentially fell foul of anti-corruption safeguards. ICAC didn't force Ms Berejiklian to step down or resign. It also does substantial private investigations of its own, including confidential interviews, before deciding to hold public hearings.
Greens senator Larissa Waters slammed Mr Morrison's claims. "The PM's comments that the NSW ICAC assumes guilt before an investigation are patently wrong and are designed to justify his pathetically weak proposal for a toothless body that wouldn't have applied to or stopped many of the scandals we've seen plaguing his government," she said.
The ALP, Greens and Independents are all opposing the bill, and the Greens and Independent Helen Haines have announced they will move amendments to toughen the model, but of course, the government can reject them. It might squeeze its model through the House of Representatives, but chances of Senate approval are extremely unlikely, unless the ALP decides to approve it.
