The head of South Australia's corruption watchdog says the state has the weakest integrity agency in the country, and results in corruption going "unchecked". Ann Vanstone resigned as the Independent Commissioner against Corruption this week and today took aim at the government for not listening to her calls for reforms.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Having led South Australia's corruption watchdog after its powers were weakened by some of those it was designed to hold to account, ICAC Commissioner Anne Vanstone says she's walking away in part because the government has ignored her calls for reform.
00:17I've failed to persuade the government to make these modest changes, certainly, and I have run out of steam.
00:25In 2021, SA politicians unanimously passed laws stripping ICAC of many of its powers and muzzling its ability to make full public statements about its work.
00:36So that we're the weakest integrity agency in Australia, that's acknowledged, not just by me. And who benefits from that, David? Who benefits?
00:45Well, who do you think benefits?
00:46Well, I think those who are corrupt.
00:48Ms Vanstone says the changes have hamstrung cooperation between her office and the Director of Public Prosecutions, so much so that she's all but given up on pursuing court convictions.
00:59I just don't see the point. The chances of them later, ending up years later, with a conviction are so slight.
01:07Instead, she's sought to investigate matters and work with departments to try to fix the system.
01:13So that whatever allowed that corruption to take root, that loophole is closed off.
01:20Commissioner Vanstone has accused the government, and in particular Attorney-General Kaya Maher, of being uninterested in her appeals for reform.
01:29The government today refused to directly respond to her comments and referred the ABC to an interview Mr Maher gave on the matter yesterday.
01:38In which he said the government is not opposed to making sensible changes, adding there are a wide range of views about the operation of integrity agencies.
01:46The changes were made when the Liberals were in government, now in opposition, they're now open to amendments.
01:52Yes, we're always here to look for opportunities for improvement, that's true. But what we see today spelled out so clearly is that the resignation is the result of a failure by this government to engage in sensible calls.
02:07The Commissioner will officially leave her post in early September.