Tasmania’s integrity commission faces criticism for the perceived slow pace of its investigations. One factor adding to the delays, is its inability to access relevant emails sent and received by members of parliament. The commission is calling for this to change.
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00:00Parliamentary privilege is an important part of democracy. It allows MPs to speak freely
00:10in Parliament with special legal rights and immunities, but it can also be a roadblock.
00:16It makes it almost impossible to investigate a Member of Parliament or a Member of Parliamentary
00:20staff unless they fully comply and consent rather than being compelled.
00:27The Integrity Commission has been investigating two Members of the Tasmanian Parliament for
00:32over two years. It says one of these investigations has effectively stalled because of Parliamentary
00:38privilege. Investigators can't access Parliamentary emails of MPs or their staff.
00:44It's not a desirable situation. The public are entitled to know that Members of Parliament
00:49and Parliamentary staff are subject to the same requirements as other Members of the
00:56Parliament. The Commission was able to investigate Adam
01:00Brooks over misconduct allegations because he voluntarily allowed investigators to access
01:06his emails. The Integrity Commission can't just look
01:09at every single email. It needs to be able to pick out the ones that are relevant for
01:14its investigations and for two years it's been trying to develop a protocol to allow
01:18that to happen. That could involve an independent arbiter deciding which emails it can access.
01:25But that process also appears to have stalled. We need to move on that and get back to working
01:31with the Integrity Commission to develop a protocol that will bring us into line with
01:35a number of other states. We are having that dialogue around what the
01:39Integrity Commission's scope is, how it goes about fulfilling its role, which is an important
01:44and independent role, and making sure that it's funded appropriately to do that.
01:48A step that could add more oversight while maintaining the sanctity of Parliamentary
01:53privilege.