Integrity Commission fails to investigate TFA Committee members

Paul Harris on ABC TV

The Integrity Commission has dismissed my complaint in respect of the conflict of interest held by Paul Harriss MLC and any other members of the Legislative Council Select Committee on the Tasmanian Forests Agreement Bill 2012 – who are also members of Timber Communities Australia on the grounds that:

“Misconduct defined by s.4(1) of the Integrity Commission Act2009 … does not include conduct, or an attempt to engage in conduct, by a public officer, in connection with a proceeding in Parliament.”

“It is self-evident that the work of the Committee is itself ‘a proceeding in Parliament’, or is ‘in connection with a proceeding in Parliament’. Accordingly the actions of the members of the Committee about which you complain cannot constitute ‘misconduct’.”

The letter from the Commission is signed by Russell Pearce, Deputy Chief Executive Officer rather than the CEO, Diane Merryfull, who is required to assess complaints under s.35 of the Integrity Commission Act 2009:

HERE

The Commission’s letter completely fails to address the matters I raised in my complaint regarding Mr Harriss’s pecuniary interest in Ta Ann and it is unclear if the Commission has even sought the advice of the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner established under s.27 of the Act.

The Commission has also dismissed my complaint regarding the potential payment of compensation to Ta Ann for reducing contractual wood supply volumes over allocated by Forestry Tasmania on the grounds that it “does not raise reasonably a suspicion of misconduct” even though I provided the Commission with detailed independently verified substantiation of my claims. The Commission has not provided me with any reasoning to justify its decision.

As this matter is of significant public interest and the Commission’s letter has not been classified as a “confidential document” under s.98 of the Act. I have attached a copy of the letter for download here:

Integrity_Commission_letter_7_March_2013.pdf

I have also sought further answers from the Commission but do not hold out much hope given that the CEO has previously refused to respond to my requests for further information/clarification on other issues including fundamental matters of process. The CEO appears to have had an almost invisible public profile since her appointment last year but is on the public record as having rejected claims that the Commission is a toothless tiger and dismissed calls for a parliamentary review (due in October this year) of the Commission to be brought forward:

http://www.examiner.com.au/story/317777/powers-enough-for-integrity-commission/?cs=94

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-12/ethics-watchdog-review-on-hold/4256606

I originally raised my concerns regarding all these matters in my submission to the Committee on 18 January 2013 and followed this up with an email to all members and officers of the Legislative Council on 18 February 2013 enclosing a copy of an article from the Examiner dated 8 December 2012 which states “Huon MLC Paul Harriss has effectively already voted against the deal – he cast a vote as a member of the Huon branch of the Timber Communities Australia.”

http://www.examiner.com.au/story/1173265/forest-deal-support-unclear-as-positions-wax-and-wane/#

To its discredit, the Committee has failed to even provide me with the courtesy of a response.

Given the Commission’s extraordinary findings it seems clear to me that the organisation has embedded itself as an impotent public embarrassment and should be replaced by a proper Independent Commission Against Corruption with coercive powers based upon the NSW model. It also provides further credence for the entire Tasmanian Forest Agreement process to be incorporated within the terms of reference for a Commission of Inquiry into all matters relating to forestry in Tasmania.

Malcolm Mars is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor who lives in Taroona