Legal experts have described Scott Morrison’s recent attacks on New South Wales’ corruption watchdog as “shameful” and “stupid”, as the Liberal Party is stepping up efforts to get Gladys Berejiklian to contest Warringah’s federal seat.
On Monday, the prime minister doubled his earlier comments in parliament last week when he called the Independent Commission on Corruption a “kangaroo court” and accused it of trying to “publicly humiliate” the former NSW prime minister.
“Gladys was put in a position where he actually had to stand down and there were no finds of anything,” Morrison said Monday, ahead of any finds from Icac. Berejiklian resigned voluntarily in September, in line with her own decision that a Member of Parliament, who is an essential subject of an inquiry, should stand aside.
“I do not call it justice. What I saw was a pile on,” Morrison said.
Icac is investigating whether Berejiklian failed to declare a conflict of interest due to her secret relationship with the then MP for Wagga, Daryl Maguire, as she was involved in awarding lucrative grants to community Maguire voters as treasurer and later as prime minister. Berejiklian has denied any wrongdoing and Icac has yet to surrender his findings.
There is growing speculation that the former NSW prime minister will lay hands on the Liberal primary to run against Zali Steggall in the Northern Sydney constituency after the Independent won it from former Prime Minister Tony Abbott in 2019.
The chairman of the Center for Public Integrity and former NSW Supreme Court Justice Anthony Whealy criticized Morrison for rejecting the serious questions raised by the Icac inquiry.
“Even those who admire Berejiklian for many of her qualities when she was Prime Minister realize that there must be a serious investigation into the situation that arose … by unloading millions of dollars of public money into Wagga voters. at the same time as she was in a relationship with the member of the Wagga, ”he said.
“For Morrison to dismiss it as meaningless is to discard integrity and accountability in the most horrible way,” he said.
For his part, Berejiklian insisted to Icac that Maguire be treated like any other Member of Parliament and that she did not think she needed to reveal the matter, which was a personal matter.
Whealy said calling it a kangaroo court showed the prime minister “had no idea what NSW Icac legislation says because it is not a court at all.”
“It is an investigative body that is exactly the same as a Royal Commission. No one suggested that the royal commissions in banking or trade unions or elderly care were kangaroo courts, and they were implemented in public, he said.
“To accuse Icac in this way is blatantly misunderstanding its nature, or it is a deliberate refusal to acknowledge what its true function is,” he said.
Former Victorian Court of Appeals judge Stephen Charles SC said Morrison’s comments were “shameful”.
“I thought that what they were indicating was that he was hoping that the former prime minister would stand against Zali Steggall and that Icac’s activities disrupted his wishes.”
Barrister Geoffrey Watson, who was a lawyer who assisted Icac in the investigation of Labor MP Eddie Obeid, said Morrison “trivialized” Icac’s investigation when he accused it of merely investigating her personal affairs.
“It’s not because he’s said it’s a kangaroo track, it’s just stupid. It’s that he said it was an investigation into who her boyfriend was. It is a trivialization of a study of whether there has been compliance at the highest level with a code of conduct. You set the standards from the top, ”he said.
“But what I found really awful was that he suggested that Icac had pursued this as a politically motivated agenda – and that was quite inappropriate, and he should apologize to the people and Icac for that remark,” he said.
The Law Council of Australia has called for “moderation in the debate on the proposed federal anti-corruption commission” following Morrison’s “kangaroo court” comment last week.
“Respect for legal institutions supports the administration of justice in Australia. The structure and powers of any commission are important issues for discussion, but any comment must be subdued by justice and balance,” said Dr Jacoba Brasch QC, President of the Law Council of Australia.
Morrison has made much of the fact that Berejiklian has not been charged with criminal conduct.
But Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Sydney, Anne Twomey, said the definition of corrupt behavior was much broader in NSW than for crime.
“So you may be found to have engaged in corrupt conduct if you have abused your public office by acting in a manner that is dishonest or partial, by abusing public information or the kind of thing she said.”
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“I have noticed that what they are trying to do is redefine the meaning of corruption so that corruption is only when you have committed a criminal act,” she said of the federal government.
Twomey said there was no legal hurdle for Berejiklian to run for federal parliament, while an investigation by Icac has not yet found results. Section 44 of the Constitution prevents a person from holding public office if he or she has been convicted of a criminal offense punishable by one year or more.
“She has not been convicted of anything, and as far as I know, Icac is not considering it,” she said.
Charles agreed that there was nothing to prevent her from running for federal office.
“But it is dangerous for those who choose to put her to the election because there is always the prospect that she may get a negative result and that would be seriously disadvantageous.”
Berejiklian has not yet declared any intention to run for the federal seat.
But Whealy said it would be hard to see the connection between Berejiklian deciding she should resign of her own free will due to an ongoing investigation into her integrity and then immediately stand as a member of Warringah.
“There is no compelling necessity from a legal point of view not to stand, but politically it would be detrimental to the Liberal Party and to her personally because of the excellent conclusion of the investigation, which in a way is quite a serious matter,” he said.
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