I guess there is chortling across the nation at claims by counsel assisting the ICAC that corruption arising from conduct of ministers in the former Labor government in NSW was ''unexceeded since the days of the Rum Corps." True to typecast, the rest of you might be saying.
But as this editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald notes:
This scandal came to light only because of investigations by Fairfax Media and the continuing concerns of residents of Bylong who believed something was awry. NSW public servants and the probity auditor failed to raise the alarm.
Regardless, apparently of the existence of whistleblower protection legislation or right to information law that frames transparency as an anti-corruption measure.
This inquiry has a long way to run.
Will it in due course reveal that no-one ever asked for the relevant documents that would if released hint at or show one minister was helping another make $100 million?
Or that requests for information that would shine light on what was going on were refused on legitimate (technically legal) or illegitimate (refusal of access based on ministerial directives or the result of public servants themselves being overly responsive to the need to protect the government of the day) grounds?
The inquiry should provide either an insight into the adequacy of the law, or reveal attitudes on the part of some public servants when it comes to implementation of the law.
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