Former Minister of the Crown Gordon Nuttall has made eight corruption allegations which were tabled in State Parliament earlier this month.
The Crime and Misconduct Commission has attempted to obtain further information from Mr Nuttall in relation to the allegations; however, he has indicated through Member for Burnett Robert Messenger MP that he does not intend to assist the CMC.
Accordingly, the CMC has made its initial assessments about how to deal with Mr Nuttall’s allegations on the basis of the information that is currently available to us.
Some of Mr Nuttall’s allegations have either been the subject of previous consideration and determination by the CMC, or do not enliven the CMC’s investigative jurisdiction.
However, some of the allegations made by Mr Nuttall cannot be determined without further investigation.
As a result, the CMC will begin a misconduct investigation into three of the allegations, being:
- that former Premier Peter Beattie inappropriately appointed former Minister Mr Bob Gibbs to the position of Trade Commissioner in Los Angeles in contravention of the Electoral Act 1992;
- that Premier Anna Bligh inappropriately appointed former Premier Peter Beattie to a Trade Commissioner’s position in London, later changing this to Los Angeles, in contravention of the Criminal Code*; and
- the direct appointment of a former Director-General of Queensland Health in 2005 was inappropriate.
The CMC’s decision to investigate these matters has been made in the public interest on the basis of maintaining public confidence in the State’s electoral and administrative systems.
No further details will be publicly provided while the investigation is ongoing.
*Correction
The second allegation was incorrectly connected to the Electoral Act 1992 and on 12 July 2011 this was corrected to the Criminal Code.
