*Pic: Former Supreme Court chief justice and former state governor, the Hon William Cox AC, RFD, ED, QC.
The Honourable William Cox AC, RFD, ED has been appointed by the Governor to undertake the independent five-year review of the Integrity Commission Act 2009.
Justice Cox is a highly distinguished former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Tasmania and was also Governor of Tasmania from 2004 to 2008.
The review, which is required by the Integrity Commission Act 2009, will consider the operation of the Act and the Integrity Commission along with other matters relevant to improving ethical conduct and public confidence in authorities.
Earlier this year the Joint Standing Committee on Integrity completed a review of the Integrity Commission and recommended a number of issues be considered by the five-year independent review.
In our response to that report the Tasmanian Government reiterated our view that the Integrity Commission should continue to play an investigative role after the five-year review.
Justice Cox’s appointment has been endorsed by the Joint Standing Committee on Integrity.
The review is expected to commence in February 2016.
• Paul Smyth in Comments: Didn’t Vanessa Goodwin once work as Clerk Assisting for Chief Justice Cox when he worked in that role? How can he then be considered impartial in this review role?
• Kev Rothery in Comments: If Justice Cox’s appointment has been endorsed by the Joint Standing Committee on Integrity then there appears to be little hope that anything of substance will emerge from his review. This is likely to be a window dressing exercise, and thus a complete waste of public money.
