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Australians waited way too long for a National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC). The fact that it is failing in its intended reason for being is a disgrace. NACC Commissioner Brereton must go, as it is no longer tenable for him to stay in the job following his compromised performance. Robodebt hangs over the NACC like the shameful episode in Australian government history it is. Never have the Australian people been so betrayed by a federal government and its administrative bodies. It is topical too because this automated f*** up bears the hallmarks of AI – the much heralded artificial intelligence.
“The agency tasked with policing corruption failed to follow its own rules, wrongly dismissing a complaint about one of its commissioners and breaching a legal duty to report such matters to its oversight body. Under its governing legislation, any complaint involving the conduct of NACC staff or commissioners — including conduct prior to their appointment — must be referred to the inspector, regardless of how serious it is deemed to be.”
Robodebt hangs over the NACC like the shameful episode in Australian government history it is!
The NACC Discredited Over Robodebt Failures
The NACC is so secretive that ordinary Australians have no idea what they are doing and whether they have actually done anything at all. The self-protective politicians have designed it this way specifically. The mutual self-regard, in which the political elite from both sides downunder, hold themselves, invariably, means that they are unaccountable to the laws of the land. Can you name a federal politician who has been effectively prosecuted for corruption in living history? I bet the answer is no and this is not because of the incorruptible nature of pollies in Australia. The simple truth is that covering their own arses is an artform in this great southern land.
Brereton Head Of The NACC Must Be Dismissed
NACC Commissioner Paul Brereton, who was a close friend of one of the 6 individuals referred to the NACC by the Royal Commission into Robodebt, has repeatedly failed to properly recuse himself from all things to do with this issue. NACC Commissioner Brereton must go if what little integrity this body holds is to remain in the eyes of the Australian people. The secretive nature of power in Australia at governmental level is fast becoming a real problem for democracy in this nation. Freedom of information requests are frequently denied as a matter of course by government bodies. Delays and expense are used to hinder sunlight getting into what goes on at the upper echelons of power. Investigative journalism, the only true friend of the common people, is our one access point into how power is executed in Canberra. It is patently obvious that these people are not interested in exposing corruption, but in the mere window dressing of such stuff, albeit through a glass darkly.
“The Albanese government is less transparent than its predecessor, according to analysis by the Centre for Public Integrity, despite Labor’s earlier promises to enhance integrity.
Freedom of Information (FoI) transparency has significantly declined, with only 25 per cent of requests fully granted under Labor, down from nearly half in 2021-22.”
“After two years and hundreds of millions of dollars, the NACC’s first completed investigation, released yesterday, found a senior Department of Home Affairs manager had acted corruptly when she subverted the hiring rules to help her sister and her sister’s fiancé into a plum government job. Don’t laugh. There’s a stern message here: if you steal a pack of post-it notes from work or take home a government notebook, the NACC’s sleuths will hunt you down, find you and prosecute you to the full extent of the law. Somehow it feels like satire, Canberra’s dysfunctional version of The Untouchables. It also feels like a massive disappointment for anyone who had high hopes for the NACC as a white knight of integrity, bringing corrupt politicians to book.”
“ABC investigative reporters at work, as Four Corners exposes $50 billion ATO losses. The old joke about feeling like a mushroom, kept in the dark and fed on shit, comes to mind when considering what really goes on in the halls of power. Macro corruption is the term used to describe the situation in Australia, where the amounts are very large when dirty deeds are done downunder. Scamming millions of dollars from the tax office via bogus GST claims would be an unlikely occurrence one would think. I mean, the ATO is a pillar of our whole national edifice, so it must be bristling with top line security, right? Wrong, it is a $50 billion black hole bad joke on that score.”
Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of Money Matters and America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump.
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