The Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) does not generally comment publicly on internal operational matters and processes. However, due to the statements made by Senator Larissa Waters in the Senate last night (25 June 2014), the CMC has made a decision to clarify the following points as a matter of public interest.
The CMC can state its records relating to the meetings referred to by Senator Waters on 20 February 2013, 8 August 2013 and 5 September 2013 confirm the meetings were not related to complaints about coal seam gas approvals or the CMC’s assessment of those complaints.
As outlined in the CMC’s media release on 19 September 2013, the CMC did assess the complaints it received about the approval processes for two coal seam gas projects. The CMC assessed the material to determine if there was any evidence of official misconduct in accordance with the definition and jurisdiction outlined in the CMC’s governing legislation the Crime and Misconduct Act 2001.
Due to the specialised and complex nature of the matter, the CMC engaged retired Supreme Court Justice Stanley Jones AO QC to assess this matter based on his experience in the field of environmental and planning law.
The CMC can also clarify it is not the practice of the agency to release reports which contain confidential information that guide decision making on whether allegations of official misconduct meet the legislative threshold as set out in the Crime and Misconduct Act 2001. This type of information is for internal purposes and often contains sensitive information which would not be appropriate or fair to release, particularly having regard to the rights of subject officers, complainants and other persons who may be assisting the CMC with its inquires.
The report prepared by Mr Jones following his assessment of the material was an internal report and was therefore not released. This was in accordance with the CMC's standard practices.
The CMC does on occasions however publish public reports following investigations in accordance with the Crime and Misconduct Act 2001. For example, the public report which followed the CMC’s investigation into the fraud at Queensland Health. These are a different category of report to other internal reports.
The CMC takes this opportunity to also clarify comments in a recent media report that the Premier ‘appointed’ the CMC to investigate allegations of official misconduct in relation to coal seam gas approvals. In this instance, the CMC commenced its assessment following the receipt of allegations.
As outlined in the CMC’s media release on 19 September 2013, after assessing a large amount of material, Mr Jones concluded that he could not find any evidence on which a complaint of official misconduct against any person could be reasonably based, and no circumstances which would justify further investigation under the Crime and Misconduct Act 2001.
