The Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) is an independent

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended f ...

entity created to combat and reduce the incidence of major crime and to continuously improve the integrity of, and to reduce the incidence of misconduct in, the Queensland public sector. Formerly the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) 2002–2014. The CCC also has a witness protection function. The commission was established on 1 January 2002,
Crime And Misconduct Act 2001 - Section 220
'. Queensland Consolidated Acts. Retrieved on 4 July 2011. when the former Criminal Justice Commission and the

Queensland Crime Commission The Queensland Crime Commission (QCC) was an independent Queensland Government entity established on 2 March 1998 to investigate criminal activity, in particular, criminal paedophilia and major and organised crime. On 1 January 2002, the QCC and t ...

were merged into a single entity under the name Crime and Misconduct Commission. The CCC has investigative powers, not ordinarily available to the police service, for the purposes of enabling the commission to effectively investigate particular cases of major crime.''Crime And Misconduct Act 2001'' - Section 5
. Queensland Consolidated Acts. Retrieved on 4 July 2011. The CCC also has the power to investigate cases of misconduct in the Queensland public sector, particularly the more serious cases of misconduct. The CCC is itself accountable to the Parliamentary Crime and Corruption Committee of the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembl ...

. As the successor to the Criminal Justice Commission, the misconduct functions of the CCC exist primarily as a consequence of the

Fitzgerald Inquiry The Commission of Inquiry into Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct (the Fitzgerald Inquiry; 1987–1989) into Queensland Police corruption was a judicial inquiry presided over by Tony Fitzgerald QC. The inquiry resulted ...

Royal Commission findings of long-term, systemic political corruption, police corruption and abuse of power in Queensland.

History

The commission was established after the publishing of a report by Bob Bottom. It conducted a high-profile investigation into matters related to the 2004 Palm Island death in custody.

2007

In 2007, the CMC Director of Intelligence claimed a lack of telephone interception or phone tapping powers meant crime bosses in Queensland were avoiding prosecution. In 2010, the first public hearings conducted by the CMC were held in relation to police corruption on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

following the Operation Tesco misconduct probe. In 2012, the

Newman Government Campbell Newman led the Liberal National Party of Queensland to its first victory at the 2012 state election. His interim Ministry of three members was sworn in on 26 March 2012, pending his determination of the make-up of his full Ministry. Hi ...

reduced funding to the organisation by 1%. The cuts had a disproportionate effect on staff numbers.

2012

In October 2012 the Queensland Government announced the commissioning of a review of the Crime and Misconduct Commission by former High Court judge Ian Callinan, wanting an assessment of what the priorities of the organisation should be, and "the use or any abuse of the powers and functions" conferred on it. The review was criticised by some as arising from resentment about five complaints made to the CMC by the then Labor government about Campbell Newman in the lead-up to his election as premier.

2013

In March 2013, the Crime and Misconduct Commission came in for strong criticism from

Liz Cunningham Elizabeth Anne Cunningham is an Australian politician. She was an independent member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 1995 to 2015, representing the electorate of Gladstone. A conservative MLA in a traditionally Labor district, Cu ...

, chair of the Queensland Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Committee, over the incorrect public release of documents relating to the

. The criticism was backed up by former Queensland attorney-general Paul Clauson, who helped establish the corruption watchdog in the late 1980s, and who likened the organisation to the Stasi.

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Jarrod Bleijie Jarrod Pieter Bleijie (; born 25 January 1982) is an Australian politician in the Queensland parliament. Bleijie was elected as the member for Kawana at the 2009 state election, and is the third member since the seat's inception at the 2001 ...

said he would meet with Ian Callinan and ask him to look into these revelations as well. The Parliamentary Inquiry into the anti-corruption watchdog heard that the accidental release and prolonged availability of secret Fitzgerald Inquiry documents at the

Queensland State Archives The Queensland State Archives is the lead agency for public recordkeeping in Queensland, Australia. It is the custodian of the largest and most significant documentary heritage collection about Queensland. Established in 1959, Queensland State ...

was attributed to a clerical error. The documents included information about targets and informants and were not to be released until 2055. The 741 pages were wrongly classified, leading to their automatic release after 20 years instead of the preferred 65 years. The documents were made available in February 2012. The matter came to the attention of Ross Martin in May 2012. It was not until March 2013 that they became unavailable. The Parliamentary Inquiry also heard that documents containing intelligence used to instigate an investigation had been accidentally shredded.

2014

The ''Crime and Misconduct Commission'' was the subject of further controversy in 2014, with former Australian Federal Police chief

Mick Keelty Michael Joseph Keelty AO (born 13 July 1954) is a retired Australian Police Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police from 2001 to 2009. He was also the inaugural chairperson of the Australian Crime Commission, now known as the Australia ...

saying it was "obsessed with independence" and describing as in danger of becoming corrupt itself, and Attorney-General

saying: "Over the years we have seen the CMC used as a political football by the Labor party and what we want to do is stop that from happening." The government introduced reforms included renaming the organisation as the ''Crime and Corruption Commission''.

2021

Following Commission investigations into members of the

Ipswich City Council The City of Ipswich is a local government area in Queensland, Australia, located within the southwest of the Brisbane metropolitan area, including the urban area surrounding the city of Ipswich and surrounding rural areas. Geography The C ...

and other councils, the Parliamentary Crime and Corruption Committee found the Chair 'did not ensure the watchdog acted at all times independently and impartially'. The fourteen findings included that the Commission did not take into account all evidence, and that the structure of the Commission should be reviewed.

2022

With calls to resign in late 2021, on Friday 28 January 2022, the chair, Alan MacSporran QC, resigned, citing a toxic relationship with the parliamentary oversight committee, resulting in an irretrievable breakdown. An acting chair was appointed. On Monday 31 January 2022, Queensland Premier

Annastacia Palaszczuk Annastacia Palaszczuk ( , Polish: Annastacia Pałaszczuk, ; born 25 July 1969) is an Australian politician who has been the 39th premier of Queensland since 2015 and the leader of the Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) since ...

announced

Tony Fitzgerald Gerald Edward "Tony" Fitzgerald (born 26 November 1941) is a former Australian judge, who presided over the Fitzgerald Inquiry. The report from the inquiry led to the resignation of the Premier of Queensland Joh Bjelke-Petersen, and the jai ...

would chair a commission of inquiry into the State's anti-corruption body after a scathing 2021 report. Fitzgerald was the chair of the 1987–1989 inquiry that in part resulted in the establishment of the Criminal Justice Commission, the forerunner of the Crime and Misconduct Commission and today's Crime and Corruption Commission.

References

External links

and Misconduct Act 2001'' (Qld)

Legislation 2001 No. 221'' (Qld)
* Queenslan
''Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Committee''
of the Queensland Legislative Assembly {{DEFAULTSORT:Crime And Misconduct Commission Government agencies of Queensland Police misconduct in Australia

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

2002 establishments in Australia Government agencies established in 2002 Crime in Queensland