The decision by the Northern Territory government to cut funding for the anti-corruption watchdog will affect its ability to carry out its functions, ICAC chief Michael Riches has warned.
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NT ICAC chief Michael Riches appeared before the budget estimates committee on Tuesday
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Riches said he is “disappointed” that the government has turned down an offer to increase funding
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He also revealed why he had to end an investigation into allegations that the cabinet was deceived.
During last month’s budget, the Office of the Independent Commissioner against Corruption received $ 5.4 million for the next fiscal year, $ 1.3 million less than the previous year.
On Tuesday, Riches told a hearing of budget estimates that the reduction in funding comes at a time when the ICAC is conducting 14 major investigations, in addition to three other preliminary investigations.
He said his firm is also defending five Supreme Court cases filed against his predecessor, including a case in which $ 150,000 has so far been spent on outside lawyers.
Despite funding problems, he said the government had rejected a recent budget allocation presentation it had made.
“Of course, I’m disappointed that this is the case,” Riches said.
“The significant reduction in this year’s budget will, of course, affect the performance of my statutory duties.”
Opposition leader Lia Finocchiaro says the cuts will not be welcomed by the territorials. (ABC News: Hamish Harty)
Opposition leader Lia Finocchiaro told the audience that the government’s budget cut “does not pass the pub test”.
“What you have is the government of the day, which is certainly under investigation, which then cuts 20 percent of the budget, knowing that this affects the provision of services and the ability of the ICAC to conduct such research.” said Finocchiaro.
Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said the ICAC could request a “treasury advance” if it requires additional funding.
“The nature of the work carried out by this type of research body, from time to time, sees the need for more expenses and we certainly support having an ICAC in the Territory,” Ms Fyles told audience.
Ms Fyles at the estimates committee hearing on Tuesday at noon. (ABC News: Hamish Harty)
Riches said that while he was “very grateful” for the opportunity to seek additional funding, he noted the importance of having experienced research staff on a permanent basis.
“Corruption investigators are not just sitting around waiting to be called [for short-term contracts]”He said.
Budget documents noted that the reduction in funding this year was mainly due to the expiration of the increase in funding planned for the 2020 budget.
The allegations of the “deceptive cabinet” cannot be investigated
During Tuesday’s hearing, Riches also revealed that legislative restrictions had prevented him from investigating a allegation that the cabinet had been deceived.
“It’s an issue that, in my opinion, was pretty serious,” he said.
“It was related to a misleading cabinet complaint.”
Riches says he has been unable to access key cabinet documents due to legislative restrictions. (ABC News: Michael Franchi)
The claim was made against someone outside the cabinet, but Riches said the ICAC Act prevented him from examining the documents submitted to the decision-making body.
“Because I have not been able to access the cabinet documents, I simply cannot proceed with the investigation because the cabinet documents themselves are key to the investigation.”
Riches said he would offer more comments on legislative restrictions in a general report he plans to present to Parliament soon.
Since Riches became head of the ICAC a year ago, he has only revealed the nature of two of the issues his office is currently investigating.
The first concerns the decision to arrest and charge NT police officer Zachary Rolfe for the deadly shooting of Kumanjayi Walker in 2019.
Posted 11 hours, 11 hours ago, Tuesday, June 14, 2022 at 4:53 AM, updated 8 hours ago, 8 hours ago, Tuesday, June 14, 2022 at 7:37 AM