Any allegations of corruption within government will be able to be made public during an election period, despite a Crime and Corruption Commission recommendation to make such reporting illegal.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Last December, the CCC recommended making it an offence for any corruption allegations against a councillor or candidate in the lead up to a local government election illegal in an attempt to stem vexatious complaints.
The proposal suggested that any journalist who revealed a complaint made to the CCC during the lead up to an election could face legal action.
The issue has reignited during the Queensland state election campaign, with both Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls saying they have no interest in applying the CCC recommendation to state government elections.
Ms Palaszczuk said she was concerned a new offence may deter those who could expose corrupt behaviour from doing so.
"These CCC's recommendation is a reminder 2017 is the 30th anniversary of the start of the Fitzgerald Inquiry," she said.
"Media coverage that led to the establishment of the Fitzgerald Inquiry were based on the information from whistle-blowers and those aware of but not subservient to so-called 'The Joke' and other corrupt practices in Queensland at the time."
In 2011, Campbell Newman had a complaint made against him to the Crime and Misconduct Commission about his actions when he was Brisbane's lord mayor.
The CMC investigated following claims Mr Newman allegedly failed to disclose financial and non-financial interests when he was in City Hall.
It was concluded there was no breach and no further action was taken.
In 2012, when Mr Newman was campaigning to be premier, he was shrouded by controversy after it was revealed his brother-in-law gained unauthorised access to City Hall, lied about a football career and had come to the attention of the FBI in the United States.
The LNP won the 2012 election and in 2013 Mr Newman sacked the entire parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Committee and passed a law that allowed the LNP to appoint the head of the newly-rebranded CCC without bipartisan support.
In 2014, the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption heard Mr Newman was linked to a questionable $5000 donation to a re-election fund from a Sydney businessman ahead of a meeting when he was lord mayor.
Mr Newman and the LNP lost the 2015 state election.
Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls said the LNP had a good look at the CCC recommendation when they were released in 2016.
"Our submission at the time was we felt that the public interest was better served by not having those bans in place," he said.
"We thought long and hard about that, but in the interest of transparency that was our submission to the CCC."
Mr Nicholls said nothing had changed between when the LNP made their submission and now.
The CCC report noted complaints about State Parliament increased during the 2009 and 2012 state election years but was not statistically significant.
