By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Narre Warren South Labor MP Gary Maas has lashed out at the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission over its claims of an ‘unfair’ Parliamentary inquiry.
Mr Maas is the newly-appointed chair of the state parliament’s Integrity and Oversight Committee, which is holding an inquiry into the welfare of witnesses appearing before IBAC and other integrity bodies.
The inquiry was sparked by the sudden death of former Casey mayor Amanda Stapledon, who was a witness into IBAC’s Operation Sandon inquiry into property developers and Casey councillors.
“This committee is the relevant oversight body of IBAC, and has sought to examine the systems and frameworks that exist to manage witness welfare,” Mr Maas said in a statement on 9 August.
“The language in IBAC’s submission only further demonstrates why that is necessary.”
The committee’s deputy chair and Liberal MP Brad Rowswell described Mr Maas’s intervention as an “extraordinary undermining” of IBAC’s submission.
“This knee jerk response is possibly unprecedented and reeks of a limp political attack on a legitimate Parliamentary process.”
Mr Maas was responding to The Age’s report of IBAC’s criticisms in a supplementary submission to the inquiry.
IBAC submitted it had “grave concerns” about the Parliamentary inquiry’s “significant departure” from principles of procedural fairness.
IBAC had been not allowed to respond to adverse allegations contained in “confidential submissions” to the inquiry, which had been “leaked to the media”, it claimed.
“There has been widespread (and inaccurate) adverse media reporting about IBAC’s welfare management practices on the basis of the leaked submissions, to which IBAC has no ability to respond.”
The inquiry’s then-chair Harriet Shing MP had been “unresponsive” to IBAC’s repeated raising of such concerns, including IBAC’s request for a private hearing, it submitted.
According to IBAC, Ms Shing cited that the Parliamentary inquiry was complying with a prohibition on the inquiry investigating matters being investigated by IBAC.
In May, Ms Shing cited the same prohibition when she cut the feed to the inquiry.
It brought a halt to Opposition MP Kim Wells asking why Premier Daniel Andrews was interviewed by IBAC in private rather than in a public hearing.
On 9 August, Mr Maas stated that “decisions of the committee are made on a collective basis – any suggestion otherwise is simply wrong”.
“The committee’s work is critically important, because no agency is beyond scrutiny, especially in matters that relate to the welfare of Victorians.”
Meanwhile, Mr Rowswell stated IBAC Commissioner Robert Redlich had been invited to make its supplementary submission.
“What is extraordinary, is the undermining of this submission by Labor’s newly appointed committee chair.
“Mr Maas has chosen to depart from convention as he did not consult with me before releasing his statement late last night.”
Mr Rowswell noted Mr Maas had been appointed as a committee member last week and chair only on Monday 8 August.
“He is Labor’s fifth chair of this committee in the last four years.”
