HIDDEN AGENDA
Transparency fears in secrecy culture
TASMANIA must increase the powers of the state’s Integrity Commission and address laws governing electoral donations and Right to Information requests to properly improve transparency, a new report has recommended.
The Australia Institute’s report called Good Government in Tasmania also has the endorsement of former Victorian Supreme Court judge David Harper QC, who said any perception the state was free of corruption was a “myth”.
It comes amid a push by federal MP Andrew Wilkie to overhaul the state’s RTI laws due to what he says is a “culture of secrecy”.
TASMANIA is desperately in need of political reform to improve accountability and transparency, the Australia Institute says.
In a report titled Good Government in Tasmania, the institute has called for improvements to the laws governing electoral donations, right to information and the Integrity Commission.
The report has the endorsement of former Victorian Supreme Court judge David Harper QC, who said Tasmania was kidding itself if it believed it was free of corruption.
“In NSW, Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland, extraordinarily serious instances of corruption have been unearthed by royal commissions or broadbased anti- corruption authorities,” he said.
“There has been no similar findings in Tasmania from its anti- corruption authority. After operating for 10 years, the community and government need to ask why.
“Tasmania is one of the least transparent states in terms of its right to information and political donations laws. Yet the lack of any full inquiries by the Integrity Commission would imply that it is simultaneously the most corruption free.
“The lack of full inquiries by the Integrity Commission has led Tasmanian politicians to believe the myth that the state is free of corruption.”
The report recommends a review of the Integrity Commission to increase its funding and powers and allow the investigation of third parties
not just government officials.
Along with stronger rightto- information rules, the report calls for the beefing up of electoral laws, with caps on donations, better disclosure of donations and bans on foreign and anonymous donations and all donations within seven days of polling day.
Australia Institute Tasmania director Leanne Minshull said the community was crying out for better governance.
“Compared to other Australian states, Tasmania has weaker political donation laws, less government transparency and limited public accountability,” she said.
“We need to address all of these problems simultaneously through an omni
bus of reform bills, rather than a piecemeal approach.
“The one good thing about being at the back of the pack is the opportunity for Tasmania to choose the best of the rest and emerge as a national leader in good government.
During budget estimates hearing last week, Premier Peter Gutwein defended his government's record on transparency.
“We are publicly reporting on gifts, benefits, hospitality received and given by officers across all agencies, transparently reporting at least quarterly on these matters on agency websites, and there are 67 new routine datasets that have been released online,” he said.
“There is also ongoing publication of public consultation submissions, which requires agencies to publish all submissions received in response to major policy legislation reviews.
“We have also delegated all ministerial responsibility under the RTI Act to independent departmental officers, we have removed it completely from ministers and we have strengthened the parliamentary disclosure of interest legislation to include the disclosure of spouse interests and financial information.”
He also promised to release a long- awaited report on electoral donations reform in the new year.
THE LACK OF FULL INQUIRIES BY THE INTEGRITY COMMISSION HAS LED TASMANIAN POLITICIANS TO BELIEVE THE MYTH THAT THE STATE IS FREE OF CORRUPTION DAVID HARPER QC