CORRUPTION IN CANBERRA (Attn: Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference 2013)

[On November 27-28 the Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference 2013 runs at the Sydney Hilton. Too much corruption is hidden; stonewalled within internal complaint channels or buried by conflicted media. So instead let's use social media to tell the world: I e-mailed attendees directly, including Dr Peter Eigen of Transparency International (who gave the keynote speech) who needs to explain irregularities within the TI Australian and UK chapters:]

Attention attendees of the Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference 2013:

CORRUPTION IN CANBERRA

1. The attached letter describes systemic corruption in the Australian Commonwealth Public Service which the Commissioner has failed to act on:
http://victimsofdsto.com/psc/

2. Fairfax SMH Investigative Journalist Linton Besser ran a series on articles on Commonwealth corruption which the Labor government ignored:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/public-service-keeps-fraud-cases-pri...
http://www.smh.com.au/national/federal-agencies-lack-firepower-to-d...

3. Labor Public Service Minister Gary Gray rejected the allegations, claiming the Commissioner had all the powers he needed to fight corruption. However in private correspondence (attached) the Commissioner denied having these powers and declined to act. A legal academic whom with a QC checked the Commissioner's letter said: "the responses (actually non-responses) you had from the APSC and Karin Fisher in particular were very offensive. And wrong on the facts to boot - as you pointed out." To this day the Public Service has failed to act on this:
http://www.victimsofdsto.com/doc/2013-04-27%20Comparison%20of%20sta...
http://victimsofdsto.com/doc/2012-12-20%20From%20Karin%20Fisher%20f...

4. Incredibly, the Canberra Times downplayed the corruption reports(!!!) and sided with the Government in rejecting the need for a Federal ICAC. Australia still has no Federal anti-corruption body. ...
http://www.victimsofdsto.com/doc/2013-04-27%20Comparison%20of%20sta...

5. Transparency International was alerted of this corruption last year, but did not act. Whistleblowers Australia said this (attached) was a powerful letter and TI should have responded to it; They are concerned that other whistleblowers approaching Transparency International to report corruption have also been ignored: http://victimsofdsto.com/doc/2012-12-07%20To%20TI%20Australia%20re%...

6. I raised my concerns with TI UK and Australia writing that (i) TI's close relationship with and their funding from the Australian Labor government was causing TI to downplay reports of corruptionwithin that government[4]; (ii) I also raised concerns that TI's supporters include companies linked to corruption (Leighton Holdings and others); (iii) I also confronted TI with evidence that the TI Defence Anti-corruption Survey had been rigged to award Australia an "A" rating, making Australia with Germany the two "least-corrupt" countries in the world.
Ref: Correspondence with TI Australia: 2012-12-07; 2013-04-04,26; 2013-05-02; 2013-06-20; 2013-07-11,22,24; 2012-08-29 [Available on request]
Ref: Correspondence with TI UK: 2013-06-09 .. 2013-07-22 [Available on request]
Ref: 2013-07-11 To Commonwealth Chief Scientist Prof Chubb cc Transparency International [Available on request]

TI have failed to respond to these questions.
...

Conclusion

9. I hope this information is illuminating in your combating corruption.

10. Given Dr Peter Eigen of Transparency International is at your conference I hope you can encourage him to obtain answers from TI Australia and TI UK.

regards

Brendan Jones

http://victimsofdsto.com
To:
Dr Peter Eigen - Transparency International
Andrew Patterson - Ombudsman - Warringah Council
Angela Boland - NSW Police Integrity Commission
Angela Gorta - NSW Police Integrity Commission
Anne Dwyer - Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President
Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference 2013
Barry O'Connor - Crime and Corruption Commission
Brad Jolly - Executive Director Governance
Bruce Barbour - NSW Ombudsman
Colin Murphy - Office of the Auditor General
Conor McGarrity - CMC
Dave Tanner - Audit and Risk Directorate - UNE
David Aiton - GM Internal Audit - Department of Mines & Petroleum - WA
David Goody - CMC
David Robinson - Manager Corruption Prevention
Dr Gillian Carter - Crime and Corruption Commisison
Dr Ken Coghill - Monash Uni
Dr Rebecca Denning - CMC
Dr Robert Waldersee - ICAC
Geoffrey Watson S.C.
Jeffrey Lawrence - ICAC
John Bale - Soldier On
John Doyle - Auditor-General
Kirsten Lacey - IBAC
Lieutenant General Peter Leahy AC - National Security Institute - University of Canberra
Mal Wauchope - Public Sector Commissioner
Maree Bridger - Customs
Mark Eady - ICAC
Michael Pezzullo - Chief Executive - Customs
Mike Blake - Auditor-General of Tasmania
Morven Galbraith - Crime and Corruption Commisison
Patricia Collingwood -
Paxton Booth - CMC
Peter Barnett - NSW Police Integrity Commission
Philip Moss - Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity
Phillip Barden - Crime and Corruption Commisison
Professor Adam Graycar - ANU
Professor Edward Blakely - Honorary Professor in Urban Policy
Professor John McMillan AO - Australian Information Commissioner
Professor Tim Prenzler - Criminology and Criminal Justice School
Ray Plibersek - Ombudsman - Southern Shire Council
Stuart Jardine - CEO - City of Sterling
The Hon Bruce James QC - Police Integrity Commisson - NSW
The Hon James Wood AO QC - Chairperson - Law Reform Commission
Tommaso Briscese - Burwood Council
Tony Wood - Crime and Corruption Commisison

[PS. The Federal Government are strangely underrepresented at this conference; Its only speakers are Customs (whose staff have, thanks to Allan Kessing, been caught smuggling drugs and guns into our country), the AFP (who cover up corruption by ignoring[1], persecuting[2] and threatening[3] whistleblowers) and the ACLEI (who oversee the AFP, but whom "does not have a complaint handling role.") The Defence complaints unit, responsible for investigating fraud, are missing; Yet they found time to attend a Transparency International conference overseas where they bragged about their "ethical behaviour and integrity" In fact, the Federal Government is the only arm of government without an Anti-corruption body like ICAC, so why the no show? In my opinion: Too much to hide, and even the APS would not be so brazen to stand before an anti-corruption conference and preach integrity when the cat is already well and truly out of the bag.]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] "The [Reserve Bank whistleblower] said the AFP did not appear to take his complaint seriously and made little or no effort to act on his information. ''I was surprised that a serious matter like this and its serious implications for people involved in this activity, that it could be just sort of dismissed relatively easily,'' he said. ''It was always 'Yeah, we're working on something else' or 'I'm overseas, we'll get back to you'. And it sort of petered out after four or five months to no contact at all …''http://www.theage.com.au/national/afp-ignored-corruption-complaint-...

[2] Chris Merritt: Legal Affairs reporter for The Australian: “The irregularities that have emerged in the prosecution of whistleblower Allan Kessing demand an inquiry. A pardon for Kessing is no longer sufficient. That inquiry needs to focus on the appalling manner in which this case has been handled by the Australian Federal Police.” http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/legal-affairs/inquiry-needed-into-federal-polices-shoddy-handling-of-allan-kessing-case/story-e6frg97x-1226027671954

"The AFP ran up a $200K+ bill spying on [Allan Kessing], raided his house twice, and that they allegedly withheld evidence of his innocence at the trial that convicted him, where he was forced to spend his superannuation to pay his legal bills against the Commonwealth. Mr. Kessing said “The toll this ordeal has put on my family is immense.”" http://victimsofdsto.com/psc/#_ednref147

[3] We never got the Royal Commission recommended by David Quick QC into AFP drug running:http://pastebin.com/tD8Vd6Vd + http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/alterlj2...

[4] And TI's downplaying corruption is in-turn used by the APS to claim: "Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2011 ranked Australia equal eighth best in the world ... These indicators relate to Australian governments generally, but they are, nevertheless, a good starting point for assessing the ethical health of the APS." http://www.apsc.gov.au/about-the-apsc/parliamentary/state-of-the-se...

Compare that glowing assessment to this: http://victimsofdsto.com/psc