The Prime Minister’s refusal to commit to an effective federal integrity agency is an outrageous failure of leadership. Clearly this Government is scared stiff of ever being scrutinised, and to somehow blame the lack of any progress on an integrity agency on his political opponents would be laughable if the matter wasn’t so terribly serious.
The simple fact is that this country desperately needs a powerful federal integrity agency based on a very broad definition of corruption. It must be able to take referrals from anyone, be able to hold public hearings, make findings of guilt and investigate matters retrospectively. Anything less leaves the public wondering what have politicians got to hide.