Michael Stedman Mercury
PROMINENT human rights lawyer Julian Burnside, QC, has endorsed calls for an independent body to investigate corruption in Tasmania. In Hobart yesterday to deliver the annual Tasmanian Peace Trust lecture, Mr Burnside said he supported the need for measures such as a register for lobbyists to guard against political corruption. Premier David Bartlett is expected to release a range of reforms today to help restore faith in the Government, which has been rocked by a string of controversies, including an investigation into allegations Police Commissioner Jack Johnston disclosed official secrets linked to a high-level police investigation. Mr Burnside said recent events in Tasmania, including the resignation of two deputy premiers, reinforced the need for a political watchdog. He said there was little value in an ethics commission that only played an educative role. “If politicians need to be taught that corruption is wrong, then there is a serious problem,” he said. “I find it hard to believe politicians (who get into trouble) don’t know that what they are doing is wrong — more likely they think they won’t get caught.” But Mr Burnside was wary of the powers of a full-blown Independent Commission Against Corruption like that in New South Wales. “I would prefer to see a model which had smaller ethics commissions or anti-corruption bodies with oversight over specific areas, like police for example or perhaps even the conduct of executive government,” he said. Mr Burnside represented the Maritime Union in the 1998 waterfront dispute. Meanwhile Mr Bartlett yesterday rejected calls for him to call an early election. Instead, he is expected today to release legislation for fixed four-year terms, which will lock Tasmania into a March 2010 poll. Read more here
