CORRUPTION AND CRIME
COMMISSIONER — REAPPOINTMENT
373. Hon TJORN SIBMA to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Attorney General:
I refer to the Attorney General's
answer to my question of 22 June on the Corruption, Crime and Misconduct
Amendment Bill 2021.
(1) Can the
Attorney General please describe the manner by which a candidate for the role
of Corruption and Crime Commissioner is ''chosen'' by the
independent nominating committee chaired by the Chief Justice of Western Australia?
(2) In relation to the above, can the Attorney General
clarify the procedure by which the independent nominating committee in
this particular instance, and of its own volition, ''chose'' the
Premier's preferred candidate, Mr McKechnie?
Hon
MATTHEW SWINBOURN replied:
I
thank the member for some notice of the question. I provide the following response
on behalf of the Attorney General.
(1)–(2) Under
section 9(3b) of the Corruption, Crime and Misconduct Act 2003, the nominating
committee is required to advertise
throughout Australia for expressions of interest. The nominating committee is
defined as a committee consisting of the Chief Justice, Chief Judge of
the District Court and a person appointed by the Governor to represent the
interests of the community. Under section 9(3a)(a), except in the case of the
first appointment, the nominating committee submits to the Premier a list of
three persons eligible for appointment as commissioner. Although not a requirement
of the act, in submitting the list to the Premier, Hon Peter Quinlan, Senior
Counsel, as chair of the nominating committee, described Mr McKechnie, QC, as
the ''outstanding nominee for the position'' in the view of the
nominating committee. Mr McKechnie, QC, was the only nominee chosen by the
nominating committee to be described in this way. As to why the independent nominating committee chose to
describe Mr McKechnie, QC, in this way, this can only be known by the
independent nominating committee.