CORRUPTION AND CRIME
COMMISSIONER — REAPPOINTMENT —OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES
1352. Hon MICHAEL MISCHIN to the Leader of the House
representing the Attorney General:
The position of full-time
Corruption and Crime Commissioner has been vacant since 28 April this year
because the government has chosen not to
appoint either of the two candidates recommended by the Joint Standing
Committee on the Corruption and Crime Commission as suitable for
appointment.
(1) To what extent has the lack of a full-time
commissioner significantly disrupted or compromised operational
activities?
(2) Can the Attorney General
provide evidence to support those assertions?
(3) Has the
Attorney General, since April, asked for or received any further reports from
the Corruption and Crime Commission of its ongoing or emerging investigations;
and, if so, when and for what purpose?
(4) Have any
investigations pursued when Hon John McKechnie, QC, retired as commissioner
been discontinued or compromised solely by reason of his not having been
reappointed; and, if so, why?
Hon SUE
ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question, but I am astonished that he would want to ask
about the Corruption and Crime Commission today!
(1)–(4) The
government continues to support Hon John McKechnie, QC, who was considered by the
nominating committee to be the outstanding
candidate for the role of Corruption and Crime Commissioner given his integrity
and professional experience, including in the roles of Director of Public
Prosecutions, as a senior judge of the
Supreme Court of Western Australia and, most recently, as commissioner of the
CCC. The nominating committee comprised the Chief Justice of Western Australia,
the Chief Judge of the District Court and a community representative. The
government, in its dealings with the Joint Standing Committee on the Corruption
and Crime Commission and the Liberal Party on this critical appointment,
maintains its strong support for Mr McKechnie, QC.
Several members
interjected.
The PRESIDENT: Order!
I would really like to give the call to Hon Donna Faragher, who I am sure has a
very interesting question to pose.