NSW Liberals’ resistance to extending ICAC’s powers smells fishy

No matter how the NSW Liberals dress up their blocking of legislation to expand the powers of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, it looks like risk management at its most blatant.

Three years ago, the ICAC sought, and was granted, special powers that temporarily exempted it from restrictions on possessing and using unlawful recordings of private conversations made by third parties. The Minns Labor government then introduced a bill to parliament late last year to make those powers permanent, but on Thursday it was blocked in the upper house after the Coalition and the Greens voted against it.

The Greens believed the legislation was an overreach, while Liberal MPs argued that ongoing surveillance would contravene the rights of the individual. “In a free society, surely we should be able to assert limits on surveillance and protect our privacy,” upper house Liberal MLC Susan Carter told parliament.

But the Liberals’ altruism is a little difficult to swallow.

The ICAC has not revealed why it sought the powers, but the request was made during its long-running investigation into fugitive Sydney property developer Jean Nassif’s collapsed development empire Toplace and funding of Liberal Party preselection for The Hills Shire Council in return for friendly consideration of development applications. That inquiry has yet to be announced.

Now a former premier, Barry O’Farrell, whose parliamentary career was spectacularly wiped out by the corruption watchdog over an undeclared $3000 bottle of Grange Hermitage, has stepped up and taken an extraordinary swipe at Liberal colleagues, warning they should support the integrity agency. “The ICAC’s an important body – established by the NSW Coalition – which should be supported in tackling corruption in NSW. In my experience, ICAC requests have been carefully considered and focused to fulfil its statutory obligations,” O’Farrell said.

The ICAC has come under criticism for taking too long to determine the outcome of investigations – most notably its marathon ruminations on the conduct of Liberal MPs Gladys Berejiklian and Daryl Maguire – but in more recent times, under chief commissioner John Hatzistergos, the organisation has moved to address that problem.

Hatzistergos has a long career in politics and the law, and his decision to seek permanent extra powers for the ICAC is hardly Orwellian.

The Herald has long been a proud supporter of the role the ICAC plays in NSW. Exposing corruption is a necessary part of ensuring the democratic process. But ensuring the system is not vulnerable to subversion demands balancing transparency against covertness.

In 2023, we considered that a change to the ICAC’s powers of such magnitude required more than a secretive letter and a nod from the government.

Legislation to make temporary changes to the Surveillance Devices Act permanent was introduced and debated last year – no bad thing – after the government had taken advice from investigative agencies, legal experts and privacy bodies: recording someone without consent would remain illegal, and we were told the changes would have brought NSW into line with other state corruption watchdogs.

The Liberals have a proud association with the ICAC. The party’s opposition to making our watchdog better fit for purpose is incomprehensible and smacks of a cover-up.

Get a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. Sign up for our Opinion newsletter.