NACC finds “no corruption” – spends $140m to date

ANTHONY KLAN

After more than 18 months — and installed after one of the most corrupt governments in the nation’s history — the National Anti-Corruption Commission has completed its first investigations.

And in all three cases it says it found no corruption.

That’s despite the NACC only launching “investigations” in the most serious of cases — after multiple stages of triaging — and it having refused to investigate over the $1.76 billion Robodebt scandal.

It is the first time the NACC has completed any investigations of its own, as distinct from investigations inherited from its predecessor, the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity.

The disclosures have been made in response to questions from Greens Senator Barbara Pocock.

The NACC’s responses — which comprise just four sentences but took it over one month to provide — raise far more questions than they answer.

What the three completed investigations were into is being hidden from the public, with the NACC refusing to say even which Federal Government departments or agencies were the focus of the completed probes.

All the NACC has said is that two of them related to government “procurement”.

The NACC refused to say whether they included the $80 million “watergate” scandal involving shadow treasurer Angus Taylor.

In 2017 the former Coalition Government procured — at vastly inflated prices — water rights from a Cayman Islands headquarted company founded by Taylor, who was Energy Minister at the time of the deal.

The company almost immediately booked a $52m profit on the deal.

The NACC has refused to answer Senator Pocock’s questions as to “which departments or agencies were involved” in its investigations.

The NACC is required to produce reports at the conclusion of its investigations — yet, in a further blow to transparency, it says it is not required to do so in cases that it decides there was no corruption.

“Of the corruption investigations initiated by the Commission since its inception, three have been concluded,” the NACC responded to Pocock.

“Those investigations were terminated because further investigation was not warranted in all the circumstances, as it became clear that corrupt conduct would not be found.

“In those circumstances, the Commission is not required to and did not produce a report.”

“The Commission is not required to and did not produce a report” – NACC

That means the public remains entirely in the dark.

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NACC boss Paul Brereton. Source: ABC Newss/Ian Cutmore

The Albanese Government was elected on the promise of delivering a transparent anti-corruption body with teeth. Instead, it created a body that operates almost entirely in secret.

Between 2012 and 2022 — under the former Coalition Government — no country fell faster towards corruption that Australia, according to global anti-corruption group Transparency International.

A key reason was the Coalition’s refusal to implement a transparent and effective federal anti-corruption regulator.

Searches show the NACC has cost taxpayers about $140m since it began operations on 1 July, 2023 – including $91.1m in its first 12 months of operations.

In its first 12 months alone it spent $30.5m on employee expenses, including the $817,322 annual salary of NACC Commissioner Paul Brereton; and its three deputy commissioners, each paid over $611,000 a year.

The Taylor “watergate” matter remains one of the nation’s most serious unresolved scandals.

The $80m payment for “water licences” was signed off by Barnaby Joyce, the then agricultural minister.

Taylor did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

The Klaxon asked the NACC whether its three completed investigations included the Taylor “watergate” scandal.

“It is…not appropriate to disclose which departments or agencies were involved in the investigations which have been terminated, in circumstances where it became clear that corrupt conduct would not be found,” an unnamed NACC spokesperson said in a statement.

More from The Klaxon on the NACC

13 Nov – Integrity boss Brereton caught lying about own misconduct

7 Nov – Robodebt NACC hearings must be public: Top judge

26 Sep – NACC Inspector will “investigate” over Robodebt

24 Sep –Robodebt “conflicts” extend beyond Brereton – NACC hides the documents

21 Sep – GUESS WHO? The $600,000 question at the heart of Robodebt

13 Sep – Not one person “punished” over Robodebt

Senator Pocock put questions to the NACC on December 3, and the NACC provided its response on January 7.

Pocock noted previous public statements from the NACC that it had “29 current corruption investigations” underway, of which 8 involved procurement.

“Corruption in public sector recruitment is one of the three predominant themes that have emerged in referrals to the Commission since it commenced,” the NACC has previously said.

The APSC is responsible for the Australian Public Service workforce and sits within the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet portfolio.

Pocock asked the NACC whether the APSC had been involved in any of the “procurement” investigations, and, if not, whether it had “at least been informed”?

The NACC refused to say.

“The Commission may disclose information to the APSC if satisfied that it is appropriate to do so,” it responded.

“Normally, it is not appropriate to do so before an investigation is complete, as premature disclosure may unfairly impact on reputations and careers.

“It is also normally not appropriate to do so if an investigation is terminated because it becomes clear that corrupt conduct will not be found,” the NACC said.

The leadership structure of the National Anti-Corruption Commission. Source: NACC; Composition: The Klaxon

The APSC refused to comment when contacted by The Klaxon.

“The Australian Public Service Commissioner does not comment on individual matters,” an unnamed spokesperson wrote.

Given the seriousness of the matters, we asked for a response directly from ASPC Commissioner Dr Gordon de Brouwer.

The APSC refused.

In its 2023-24 annual report, the NACC reported it had 19 NACC investigations underway as well as six “joint investigations” with unnamed other agencies, of which none had been completed at July 1 last year.

“No investigations commenced under the NACC Act were completed during the reporting period,” it said.

It reported it had inherited 22 investigations from predecessor ACLEI, none of which were completed by July 1.

The NACC drew national outrage in June last year when it announced it would not investigate over Robodebt, the $1.76 billion Coalition scheme that saw unlawful debts raised against 526,000 social security recipients.

The Robodebt Royal Commission referred six officials to the NACC for criminal and civil action.

In a decision that took it almost one year to deliver — and as previously revealed, comprised just two pages — the NACC said it would not launch an investigation.

NACC Commissioner Brereton has since been found to have engaged in officer misconduct over failing to properly recuse himself from the decision of whether to investigate.

Brereton remained intimately involved in that process, despite having close ties to Kathryn Campbell, the most senior public servant overseeing Robodebt.

More from The Klaxon on the NACC

9 Sep – Brereton’s Robodebt “recusal” claims a sham: Top ex-judge

6 Sep – Questions over NACC Robodebt “investigation”

31 Aug – NACC boss misled Dreyfus over Robodebt

29 Aug – Million dollar NACC boss freezes media as questions heat up

26 Aug – “Recused” NACC boss Brereton at Robodebt meeting

Following widespread public outcry, NACC Inspector Gail Furness, responsible for investigating corruption within the NACC itself, launched an investigation.

Despite it making highly damning findings against Brereton, the NACC boss has refused widespread public calls for him to resign.

Brereton was appointed by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, the MP for Issacs, in Melbourne’s south-east.

On December 13 — 18 months after it received the Robodebt referrals — the NACC said it had appointed former High Court judge Geoffrey Nettle KC to “reconsider” its decision NACC not to investigate over Robodebt.

No decision has been made.

It is a decade since the Robodebt affair.

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