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Former Logan City councilor demands apology over dropped fraud charges that ‘destroyed lives’

A former Logan councilor has described how fraud charges laid in the wake of an investigation by Queensland’s corruption watchdog destroyed her life and led to a barrage of public abuse.

Trevina Schwarz was one of eight former Logan City councilors who in 2019 were charged with fraud and sacked following a Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) investigation.

The charges were dropped last year due to insufficient evidence.

Ms Schwarz said the ordeal took a major toll on her family, saying it copped relentless abuse from the public.

“My son was abused in Bunnings and asked to come outside so the fellow could fight him. It really was awful,” Ms Schwarz told ABC Radio Brisbane.

“You’d walk in a home where you’d lived for 30 years and people would look at you and point as you were walking down the street.

“You couldn’t escape from it. It was on the news, it was on the radio, it was in the papers.

“It absolutely destroyed my life. And the toll that it also takes on your family is huge.”

Her comments came after leading Queensland corruption fighter Tony Fitzgerald yesterday handed down a report into how corruption is investigated in the state.

It included a string of recommendations.

Among them was the need for the CCC to consult with the state’s Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) before laying charges to avoid “unwarranted impact” and to rebuild public confidence.

The report also found the Logan City Council probe damaged the public’s perceptions of the CCC.

Calls for an apology

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk speaking to reporters in Brisbane
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk would not say if her government would issue an apology to the councillors.(ABCNews)

When Ms Schwarz received a call from the CCC notifying her that the charges had been dropped, she initially “thought it was a hoax”.

She said the CCC had failed to comply with its own rules during its investigation of the Logan City Council.

“Although there should be great and high protection for whistleblowers, first and foremost, you need to ensure that those complaints are factually correct and not malicious.”

While she is pleased with the recommendations in Mr Fitzgerald’s report, Ms Schwarz is hoping for an apology from the state government after cabinet meets on Monday.

“Wrongfully charging us has destroyed our lives, our careers and the reputational harm is irreparable,” she said.

“We’re all disappointed that we have not received an apology, a meaningful apology. That should be forthcoming,” Ms Schwarz said.

Former councilors considering legal action

Ms Schwarz also told ABC Radio Brisbane the eight sacked Logan City councilors were considering pursuing compensation from the state government.

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Australia

Whistleblower protection question looms as critical brands new Fitzgerald report into Queensland’s CCC a ‘missed opportunity’

The ink is dry on Tony Fitzgerald’s report into how corruption is investigated in Queensland, but it remains unclear how the state government will deal with a long list of “additional issues” that weren’t within the inquiry’s terms of reference.

Mr Fitzgerald, who led the historic Fitzgerald Inquiry into police corruption 30 years ago, co-chaired the inquiry with retired Supreme Court justice Alan Wilson.

Their findings on rebuilding public trust in the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) were released yesterday.

As the authors noted, the report was “not Fitzgerald 2.0”, and was charged only with examining and reporting on “quite specific aspects” of the CCC’s operations.

The 10 “additional issues” outlined in the report’s appendix include how the CCC should be funded, the need for a clearing house for corruption complaints, and the need for certain legislative reforms.

The report was commissioned by the Queensland government after a string of high-profile failed prosecutions, and the finding by the Parliamentary Crime and Corruption Committee (PCCC) that the CCC had erred in its decision to charge eight Logan City councilors with fraud in 2019.

One of the key recommendations is that fewer police be seconded to the CCC, in favor of training up “civilian investigators” from a range of other professional backgrounds.

Griffith University public policy and law Professor AJ Brown said this was to allow the CCC to pivot away from predominantly criminal prosecutions.

Graphic of a report on the Queensland corruption watchdog with two of the key recommendations
Two of the key recommendations from the report on improving operations in the CCC. (abcnews)

He said there were many instances of corruption and misconduct being raised that did not meet the benchmark of a criminal offence, but nonetheless needed to be stamped out.

“The remedy may not be a criminal prosecution, it might be disciplinary action in relation to individuals, or it might be system reform in relation to procedures and institutions,” he said.

“When the CCC looks at serious misconduct issues that are high corruption risks, like acting in the presence of undisclosed conflicts of interest or alleged favoritism or nepotism, the threshold that’s being used to judge those things is not necessarily simply whether a criminal offense has been committed.”

Professor Brown said the report was not suggesting civilians were better placed to judge corruption matters.

“There’s a range of different disciplines and skills that have to be brought to bear potentially, whether they’re a lawyer, or a police investigator or a forensic accountant or a policy person – they all need to see the big picture of corruption and what’s involved in addressing it and stopping it through all sorts of different angles.

Queensland Police Service officers in South Bank
One officer told the inquiry there should be more of a focus on education, rather than police enforcement.(ABC News: Patrick Williams)

“This is potentially a big turning point — not just in Queensland, but for anti-corruption investigations and training right around the country — to actually recognize that we need to have the skills that deal with that full complexity,” Professor Brown said.

Among the 87 submissions that the inquiry received, which were only publicly released when the report was complete, former Queensland police commissioner Bob Atkinson submitted his view that “unless there is clear criminal and/or corrupt activity, an educational approach is better than an aggressive prosecutorial approach”.

Mr Atkinson highlighted the prosecution of police Superintendent Michelle Stenner as an example of what he saw as misuse of the CCC’s powers on telephone intercepts, search warrants and covert methods to gather evidence.

Superintendent Stenner was acquitted of perjury in a retrial in October last year, after initially being prosecuted over allegedly giving false testimony to a CCC hearing in 2017.

Mr Atkinson argued that evidence-gathering techniques should only be used in the most serious matters.

Superintendent Michelle Stenner
Superintendent Michelle Stenner was acquitted after being charged with giving false testimony to a CCC hearing.(Supplied)

“The Stenner case, which was never more than a HRM [human resource management] matter, is an example of the misuse of such powers [phone intercepts and coercive hearings],” he said.

Lack of public hearings a ‘missed opportunity’

Brisbane-based lawyer Calvin Gnech, who specializes in professional misconduct law, said the inquiry had missed the opportunity to reset the bar for transparency and the CCC.

“Only in recent times have the submissions of everyone been disclosed on the website, so the practical effect is there has been no contradiction to any of the submissions,” Mr Gnech said.

“And we now know that the CCC themselves submitted four separate submissions to the inquiry, and no stakeholder or no community member has been able to contradict those submissions in any way because of the way it was conducted.”

AJ Brown at Griffith University in June 2022.
Professor AJ Brown says legislative change to protect whistleblowers is “the unresolved issue.” (Mark Leonardi, ABC News.)

Mr Gnech said Mr Fitzgerald and Mr Wilson should have allowed public hearings as part of the review.

“This was the first reform in regards to corruption that was considered in Queensland since 1989, and ultimately a concerning feature of the whole inquiry that has been disappointing is the lack of any public hearings or transparency in regards to the submissions.

“At the moment, you’ll see the benefit of a public inquiry right here in Queensland by looking at the meticulous way that Commissioner Richards has conducted the inquiry into policing and domestic violence in a public way, to allow for public comment, and contradiction of any statements made by – in that inquiry – the police service or any other stakeholder.

“That’s been denied here in regards to the way the process of the inquiry was conducted, and it’s disappointing,” he said.

“I think looking back on this, for a number of reasons, this may well be a missed opportunity.”

Whistleblower protection still an open question

It’s the areas the CCC report didn’t examine that have attracted a lot of commentary, including those outlined in its appendix.

Professor Brown said the key unresolved issue remained how whistleblowers were to be protected under the Public Interest Disclosure Act.

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Categories
Australia

Tony Fitzgerald hands down review into Queensland’s Crime and Corruption Commission

Queensland’s corruption watchdog needs to consult with the state’s Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) before laying charges to avoid “unwarranted impact” of its investigations and rebuild public confidence, a new report has recommended.

It is one of a string of recommendations from a Commission of Inquiry relating to the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC).

The inquiry’s report, handed to the Queensland government today, also recommends the CCC reduce its reliance on police officers as staff.

It identifies “two key risks” associated with the employment of seconded police in the CCC.

The inquiry was co-chaired by retired Supreme Court justice Alan Wilson QC and Tony Fitzgerald, who is best known for heading the Fitzgerald Inquiry, which uncovered systemic corruption in Queensland 35 years ago.

It was announced by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in January.

The inquiry was commissioned as a result of a recommendation from a Parliamentary Crime and Corruption Committee report into the CCC’s investigation and decision to charge eight Logan City councilors with fraud in 2019.

The charges were dropped in court due to a lack of evidence and today’s report found those events adversely affected Queenslanders’ perceptions of the CCC.

Headshot of smiling Tony Fitzgerald
Mr Fitzgerald’s extensive and distinguished legal career dates back to the 1970s.

The original Fitzgerald Inquiry’s recommendations led to the creation of the Criminal Justice Commission, the precursor of the CCC.

The new inquiry made 32 recommendations about the CCC’s structure and operation “that must be implemented collectively” to bolster public confidence.

Upon receiving the report, Ms Palaszczuk said the recommendations were “very sensitive”.

“On the face of them, there is nothing here that I cannot see our government implementing,” she said.

What has been recommended?

The inquiry heard 87 submissions from stakeholders and members of the public including from the former chair of the CCC Alan MacSporran.

Its recommendations focus on refining the CCC’s process of laying charges and reducing its reliance on police staff.

They highlight risks of “institutional capture” by the Queensland Police Service (QPS) – in which the interests of the QPS are prioritized over the interests of the public – and a risk that corruption investigations might place an “undue emphasis on law enforcement”.

The report makes clear the use of seconded police officers by the CCC is appropriate and should continue, but recommends the watchdog predominantly employs people outside of the police and armed services.

It also recommends creating a Corruption Strategy and Prevention Unit within the CCC, as well as a dedicated training and development officer.

Queensland Police Service officer in South Bank
The inquiry urges the CCC to employ more investigators from outside the police service.(ABC News: Patrick Williams)

Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman has focused on another recommendation — amending the Crime and Corruption Act to make the CCC consult with the DPP before laying charges to ensure the charges can be properly brought to court.

“I think that is a really key recommendation, particularly as this commission of inquiry arose from the PCCC’s inquiry into what happened in Logan City Council,” Ms Fentiman said.

She said the specialist team would be created within the DPP.

“That will review all of the evidence collated by the CCC and make a recommendation to the CCC.

“It then goes back to the CCC once the matter then comes to be prosecuted a different team of prosecutors will looks at it.

“We’ll take advice from the DPP about the kind of resources they need in order to do this work.”

Queensland Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman speaks at a press conference
Shannon Fentiman says DPP consultation is a key recommendation of the report. (AAP: Jono Searle)

What about the Logan councillors?

The inquiry’s report said it would not revisit or re-litigate the investigation of the Logan council.

Ms Palaszczuk did not comment on whether Logan City Council would be issued an apology.

“No-one would like to see what happened to those particular councilors happen again,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“That report is very clear about a path forward … so we would probably not see the likes of that happening again – that would be my expectation.”

The report also raises additional issues outside its scope, including the potential of delaying the suspension or sacking of councilors until they have pleaded guilty or are committed to trial.

Ms Fentiman said the government would also consider those issues.

The report will be considered by cabinet on Monday.

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