[Editor’s note: The war between the Queensland attorney general and his judges continues unabated. This time the bill to place the Crime and Misconduct Commission under political control is criticised by retired judge Tony Fitzgerald. It was Fitzgerald who headed the Commission of Inquiry into Official Corruption in Queensland (1987-1989) which led to the formation of the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) .]
Fitzgerald’s submission on the Crime and Misconduct and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2014.
“There are other troubling signs that the Liberal National Party’s huge majority has re-enlivened old, bad habits. For example, in an unfortunate reminder of the gerrymander which gave the Liberal National Party an unfair advantage in pre-Inquiry Queensland, the Goverment is proposing to change the current electoral laws.
The Government’s majority must be respected but it does not have a mandate to obliterate reforms which were necessitated by the Liberal National Party’s predecessors’ criminality and abuse of power or to return Queensland governance and public administration to their parlous state in the 1980s.
Sooner or later, the Premier will have to bring the Justice Department under control or risk public humiliation.
This Committee’s advice to Parliament that the Bill in its present form is a gross abuse of power would provide a good start.”
— G E (Tony) Fitzgerald
Excerpt from submission by G E (Tony) Fitzgerald. Tony Fitzgerald submission
The full submission is interesting reading and can be found at http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/committees/LACSC/2014/CMOLAB2014/submissions/004.pdf