RECEIVE CAMPAIGN UPDATESThreat of Uncontrolled Operations unacceptable
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008Greens MLA Dr Deb Foskey expressed her concerns about giving broad new powers to ACT Policing and the Australian Crime Commission to engage in what would otherwise be criminal behaviour, in the absence of effective anti-corruption mechanisms.
“Unlike other jurisdictions which are able to exercise close oversight and control of their police forces, the ACT has no such power. ACT policing only has to submit a limited report once a year to the Attorney General” Dr Foskey said today.
“NSW has the Independent Commission against Corruption. Other jurisdictions have similar bodies. We rely strongly on the AFP to oversight ACT Policing. I agree with the AFP Association that the Haneef case has undermined the public’s faith in the independence of the AFP. The ACT needs its own anti-corruption body.”
“The ACT Government should demand greater accountability and control over our police force. Trusting the AFP’s anti corruption body, ACLEI (the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity) to detect and root out corruption and incompetence is irresponsible. The former head of ACLEI said the body needed a tenfold increase in investigation staff and substantial extra funding to be effective.”
“The Commonwealth and ACT Ombudsman has no power to order reforms or prosecutions, and needs AFP cooperation to investigate corruption allegations. Ombudsman oversight is a welcome but clearly inefficient and inadequate level of oversight.”
“We shouldn’t pretend that the AFP is immune to corruption. Mark Standen was an AFP officer for 10 years before moving into greener pastures at the NSW Crime Commission. Controlled operations powers increase the level of temptation and increase the likelihood of corruption. We owe it to ACT Policing to ensure that their integrity is not compromised” Dr Foskey said.
