Last Friday night on Stateline there was an interview with Nick Xenophon, have been waiting to see if it would be posted on the Sateline website. Here it is, interesting comments by Nick.
http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/sa/content/2006/s2598110.htm
IAN HENSCHKE, PRESENTER: Senator Nick Xenophon has been stirring the pot again this week. At a Press Club luncheon earlier, the South Australian Senator called for the establishment of an Independent Commission Against Corruption, which he says the state certainly needs. And he says he’ll use his power base in Canberra to make it happen. I spoke to him earlier and asked why we need an ICAC. NICK XENOPHON, SA SENATOR: Well, for a whole range of reasons, because the current system doesn’t work. It doesn’t do the right thing by people who have a legitimate grievance of corrupt behaviour. Andy Martin was one of the victims of Peter Levy. For years he was complaining about him and others being abused while wards of the state. Those claims fell on deaf ears for far too long, until, after a lot of pressure, the State Government instituted the Mullighan inquiry. And that inquiry found the level of institution abuse, the level of corruption was much greater than first thought. So that’s the sort of thing that an independent commission could’ve looked at and so that people like Andy Martin could’ve had redress in the proper fashion. IAN HENSCHKE: Now the Attorney General’s been quoted as saying that 98 per cent of these cases brought before an ICAC end up being baseless. NICK XENOPHON: Well that’s fine. And that’s why it’s important we have procedures, so that if the cases are baseless, then people's names aren’t dragged through the mud in the media, and I agree with that. But for those two per cent of cases where there are serious issues of corruption - we’ve seen what’s happened in Western Australia, in NSW, in Queensland, where some very serious instances of corruption have been unearthed, and Brian Burke in Western Australia is a prime example. They’re the sorts of things that citizens have a right to know about. We have a right to know about these things and also to improve the systems of government. IAN HENSCHKE: Now the Greens have been calling for this, saying that they’re worried about links between property developments and local governments and governments. Is this one of the areas of concern? NICK XENOPHON: Well the Greens are right in relation to that, and that’s why we need to have an independent commission. This is something that needs to be dealt with. In the absence of such a commission, we won’t know; we won’t know whether the links are proper or improper. And what we do know from the recent ICAC investigation into the Wollongong Council affairs in NSW, that indicated quite widespread corruption. And that’s the sort of thing that wouldn't be uncovered here in South Australia because the powers and the existing bodies have too narrow scope in order to deal with these issues. IAN HENSCHKE: Now the Attorney General says that you could raise any matters like those matters you’ve just raised in Parliament, so there is an avenue already. NICK XENOPHON: Parliamentary privilege is something that you should use very sparingly. It’s something that I think is quite sacred. And for the Attorney General to suggest that you can just drag people's names through the mud in Parliament isn’t the way to go. This is about forensically looking at a complaint, making sure that it has validity. If it has validity, to bring those to account and also to make recommendations about better government in the future. The Independent Commission Against Corruption in NSW has made something like 800 recommendations for better governance in the last 20 years, and that has to be a good thing. IAN HENSCHKE: Why do you think the Rann Government is happy at the moment with the way things are, saying we already have an anti corruption body within the police force? NICK XENOPHON: The Rann Government’s wrong on this because the current mechanisms to weed out corruption, to investigate corruption are too narrow in their scope. There aren’t the resources. They don’t look at a whole-of-government approach, both in terms of state and local government and instrumentalities. And we really are missing out in terms of having the best possible system that will maximise levels of transparency and accountability. The best way to get rid corruption is to shine a light on it, and right now, we just have a flickering bulb. IAN HENSCHKE: Well how will you work federally in your position now to put this in place in South Australia? NICK XENOPHON: Well if the State Government doesn’t have the political will to do this, an alternative approach would be to say that you link federal funding to the states, to local government, on the basis that there are minimum criteria for transparency and accountability, that if you hand over money, Commonwealth money over, taxpayers’ money, that it needs to be on the basis that those recipients of that money are willing to be subject to a certain level of scrutiny and transparency and accountability that we just don’t have now. IAN HENSCHKE: Now the Opposition says that it would put an ICAC in place, so are you going to give them your backing at the next election? NICK XENOPHON: Well I’d support anyone, whether it’s the Opposition, the Greens, Family First, who support an ICAC. If they support an ICAC, then I think that’s an important issue and that people should weigh that up when they get into the ballot box. IAN HENSCHKE: Thank you very much for your time. NICK XENOPHON: Pleasure.
Thanks for that TC... Also if anyone might be interested the FREE Australia Party will be in attendance at the following events and would be pleased to see as many FREE supporters, members etc., mingling in the crowd... They are both issues not only we feel strongly about, but the community at large and would love to see a healthy smattering of FREE Australia jumpers & Tshirts at both events...
Cheers - Sump...
