Western Australia to get tough, new corruption and organised crime watchdog

25/2/03
The State Government has announced plans to abolish the Anti-Corruption Commission and replace it with a bigger, better resourced and more powerful corruption and crime watchdog.
Premier Geoff Gallop said the new agency would be based on recommendations from the Kennedy Royal Commission into police corruption.
Dr Gallop said the new body, to be known as the Corruption and Crime Commission, would effectively operate as a permanent Royal Commission into police and public sector corruption.
It would also have a role in the investigation of organised crime.
The Premier said the new watchdog's powers and scope would go far beyond those of the ACC, which had been doomed from the start.
The Royal Commission had concluded that a new agency was necessary because flaws in the ACC's powers and structure had undermined public confidence in the fight against corruption.
"The ACC was stifled at birth by a Coalition Government that was never serious about tackling corruption," Dr Gallop said.
"When they had the opportunity in 1996 to give our State a proper corruption watchdog they failed.
"The Kennedy Royal Commission has now presented us with an opportunity to correct that historical mistake and it is an opportunity my Government will not miss.
"In the Corruption and Crime Commission we will finally have the permanent, powerful and proactive agency that Western Australia has been lacking for too long."
The Premier said the new agency would be headed by a single commissioner and would have all the powers of a regular Royal Commission, including the ability to hold public hearings and compel witnesses to give evidence.
It would also be granted the full range of additional investigative powers adopted specifically for the Kennedy inquiry, including the power to conduct integrity tests and controlled operations and to use assumed identities.
The CCC would be able to conduct pro-active investigations and would be able to form opinions on matters it had investigated and make recommendations.
While the Police Commissioner would continue to have primary responsibility for handling and investigating complaints of misconduct against police, the Ombudsman's current role in the oversight of those investigations would be transferred to the new agency.
The CCC would also be able to initiate its own investigations or direct the Police Commissioner or any other public official to carry out corruption investigations in a manner and at a time it directed, with the capacity to report any dissatisfaction to Parliament.
The new body would also be able to grant police the authority to use the tough, new anti-organised crime powers available under the Criminal Investigation (Exceptional Powers) and Fortification Removal Act.
It would also be responsible for supervising the use by police of those exceptional powers and would be able to chair hearings into organised crime allegations.
Dr Gallop said a Joint Parliamentary Committee would continue to oversee the activities of the new agency.
The Government had also accepted the need for a so-called 'watcher on the watcher' and would be appointing an independent Parliamentary Inspector to supervise the agency's activities.
"With the investigative powers we will be granting the CCC comes the responsibility to use them properly and an independent inspector reporting to Parliament will act as an important safeguard against the abuse of those powers," the Premier said.
He said legislation to create the CCC would be introduced into Parliament soon and the Government wanted to ensure the new body was in place when the Kennedy Royal Commission concluded in August.
The Royal Commission and the ACC would transfer any outstanding matters to the new agency.
"It will be absolutely vital that we avoid any gap between the Royal Commission's conclusion and the commencement of this new body," Dr Gallop said.
"To that end, we are expecting the bipartisan support of the Opposition in ensuring the required legislation is passed without undue delay."
Premier's office: 9222 9475