{"id":692387,"date":"2026-05-24T23:37:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T23:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/692387\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T23:37:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T23:37:08","slug":"labor-urged-to-use-anti-corruption-commission-appointment-to-restore-public-confidence-in-watchdog-national-anti-corruption-commission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/692387\/","title":{"rendered":"Labor urged to use anti-corruption commission appointment to restore public confidence in watchdog | National Anti-Corruption Commission"},"content":{"rendered":"

A key architect of the National Anti-Corruption Commission<\/a> says parliament should consider new merit-based and independent selection processes for major appointments, urging the Albanese government to use an existing vacancy to restore public confidence in the watchdog.<\/p>\n

Independent MP Helen Haines<\/a>, who helped craft legislation to establish the Nacc, sits on its parliamentary oversight committee. She said \u201cthe clock is ticking\u201d on replacing deputy commissioner Nicole Rose, who announced her resignation this month.<\/p>\n

Rose is relocating overseas and will finish in the job this month before taking a period of leave.<\/p>\n

Haines said replacing Rose through a clear and transparent process would assist parliament\u2019s joint committee on the Nacc to fulfil its role of reviewing and approving appointments.<\/p>\n

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\u201cRecruitment for a new deputy commissioner is a critical opportunity for the government to strengthen public confidence in the National Anti-Corruption Commission,\u201d Haines told Guardian Australia.<\/p>\n

Haines has made only rare comments on the Nacc\u2019s operations, due to her responsibilities regarding its oversight.<\/p>\n

A statutory review of the Nacc\u2019s early operation is expected in 2027. It will follow a controversial first five years, including criticism about commissioner Paul Brereton\u2019s external work for Defence and the Nacc\u2019s handling of referrals related to the illegal robodebt scheme<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Nacc\u2019s original decision not to investigate was heavily criticised, with the watchdog receiving more than 1,000 complaints.<\/p>\n

The Nacc inspector, Gail Furness, released a report in October 2024<\/a> finding that Brereton was \u201caffected by apprehended bias\u201d and should have \u201cremoved himself from related decision-making processes and limited his exposure to the relevant factual information\u201d.<\/p>\n

The report found Brereton had appointed a deputy as a delegate to decide referrals to the Nacc, due to a perceived conflict of interest with one of the individuals, which he declared. The Nacc noted the report contained \u201cno finding of intentional wrongdoing or other impropriety\u201d.<\/p>\n

Brereton has completed consulting work for the inspector general of the Australian defence force while serving as Nacc commissioner, related to his former position leading an inquiry into alleged war crimes involving Australian troops in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

Haines said Labor must appoint a new commissioner through \u201ca transparent, merit-based process that Australians can have confidence in\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an important moment to show Australians that appointments to the Nacc are being handled in a transparent and rigorous way,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustralians should understand what skills and experience are required for the role, as well as how candidates will be assessed and conflicts of interest declared.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe appointment process should be beyond reproach and the process of appointments should be as transparent as the public expects of the Nacc itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The parliamentary joint committee\u2019s role in reviewing and approving appointments is set out in the Nacc\u2019s governing legislation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the longer term, it is time to consider whether an independent, merit-based process should be legislated for all senior appointments to the Nacc,\u201d Haines said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe clock is ticking, with Ms Rose taking leave from late May and no acting appointment announced. It\u2019s important there is sufficient time for a thorough and considered selection process.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nacc\u2019s most recent public update revealed that it was conducting 29 preliminary investigations and 36 corruption investigations. Four Nacc matters were currently before the courts and 11 convictions had been secured as a result of its investigations so far.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A key architect of the National Anti-Corruption Commission says parliament should consider new merit-based and independent selection processes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":692388,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-692387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=692387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/692388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=692387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=692387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=692387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}