Lesson from Australia

 

From Hafiz Hassan

The Australian Labor Party ended nine years of conservative rule in Australia when it won the country’s federal election in May last year.

The Anthony Albanese-led Labor Party’s main election promise was to establish a “powerful, transparent and independent National Anti-Corruption Commission by the end of 2022”.

“Labor will deliver a powerful, transparent and independent National Anti-Corruption Commission – one with teeth. And we’ll do it this year. We need to restore faith in the political system.” Albanese had tweeted on April 20.

On Nov 30, 2022, the promise was delivered. The Australian Parliament duly passed the National Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2022 which received royal assent on Dec 12, 2022.

The commission is expected to begin operations in mid-2023.

The Act provides for the commission to operate independently of the government. Its commissioner and deputy commissioners will have discretion in how they perform their roles. This includes whether to commence an investigation, and how they will conduct their investigations.

Similar to a federal judge in Australia, the commissioner and deputy commissioners will have security of tenure. Their appointment will be approved by a parliamentary joint committee (PJC), and the commissioner will be appointed for a single, non-renewable, fixed five-year term.

The commission will therefore be under parliamentary oversight. The PJC will oversee the commission’s performance, including its budget and finances. It will also approve the appointment of the commissioner, deputy commissioners and the inspector, to ensure they have the confidence of the Parliament.

In addition, the PJC will review the commission’s budget and finances and report to the Parliament on whether its resources are sufficient to effectively perform its functions and whether its budget should be increased.

The Act can be seen here.

That’s timeous reform!

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim can learn from his Australian counterpart. Perhaps his next official visit can be to Canberra. - FMT

Hafiz Hassan is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.