An investigation by Queensland’s corruption control body into the controversy surrounding laptops taken from the integrity commissioner’s office has found the circumstances to be “totally normal”.
Key points:
- The CCC said the “attack” and “embargo” comments did not reflect what happened
- He found that the circumstances surrounding a laptop being “erased” were not remarkable
- The report found no evidence of any confidential information disclosed by email
The Commission Against Crime and Corruption (CCC) released a report on its investigation into allegations of improper disclosure of information from the Integrity Commissioner’s office and the circumstances of an “attack” and “confiscation” of laptops from this office last year.
“These allegations have attracted a lot of public attention, media coverage and, unfortunately, misinformation,” the CCC’s public report said.
“There was no evidence of inadequate disclosure.
“The circumstances in which the laptops were recovered from the integrity commissioner’s office were completely normal, and the descriptions of‘ beating ’and‘ confiscation ’do not reflect the reality of what happened.
“Also, the circumstances in which a laptop was ‘erased’ are not at all remarkable.”
However, the report said the investigation highlighted the difficulties arising from the “current administrative and government agreements” related to the office of the integrity commissioner, and reiterated its support for independent agreements.
For months, the opposition has used the laptop saga to call for a royal commission-style investigation into integrity issues, which the government has rejected.
Dr. Nikola Stepanov, who submitted her resignation earlier this year, ended the post yesterday.
In January, he said the current government agreements placed “the integrity commissioner in a position of inherent vulnerability.”
The functions of the integrity commissioner include providing confidential advice on issues of ethics and integrity to parliamentarians and bureaucrats, and maintaining the register of lobbyists.
No emails were sent to inappropriate accounts
The Public Service Commission (PSC) is responsible for the budget, staffing and resources of the Queensland Integrity Commissioner (QIC), a government agreement not replicated for any other state integrity agency.
The CCC report described how in March last year these arrangements became “a point of discussion” for the integrity commissioner, who considered that they undermined the integrity of her position and her ability to fully exercise their functions.
The watchdog said “a particular point of friction,” which became central to his investigation, were the circumstances in which two laptops were removed from the integrity commissioner’s office on Dec. 12. March 2021.
In July 2021, Dr. Stepanov expressed concern that a PSC employee, an executive officer, who had been working in his office, might have released confidential documents from the integrity commissioner.
“The integrity commissioner believed she had identified cases where the executive officer had ‘blindly copied’ emails to her own individual integrity commissioner’s email account and also to a PSC email account,” he said. said the CCC report.
The CCC began investigating the allegation that the executive officer had misused his position to disclose confidential information, as well as the circumstances in which the executive officer’s laptop and the director were retired from the office of the integrity commissioner.
He found no evidence that the executive officer had disclosed confidential information by email.
“There was no basis to suspect that the information had been improperly disclosed by any other means, and the investigation found no evidence to suggest so,” the report says.
“The review did not identify any cases of sending these emails, either to a personal email account or to any inappropriate entity.”
Laptops taken “for different purposes”
The CCC also analyzed the circumstances in which the “confiscation” and “erasure” of laptops during an “attack” was alleged.
The report said that on March 12, 2021, a desktop support engineer appeared to have picked up two laptops from the Integrity Commissioner’s office at the same time “for different purposes”.
One was for the purpose of an ongoing investigation into a school bullying complaint against another employee.
The second laptop, the executive officer’s laptop, was picked up “at the same time so it could be reassigned to a new starter,” the report says.
The report said that although it was unclear who made the request, PSC agents asked the Department of Primary Informatics and the Computer Cabinet to pick up the first laptop.
“The integrity commissioner (along with the office administrator) stayed away from the office that day to avoid contact, in light of the ongoing investigation.
“There are different memories about who suggested this deal, but it’s clear that this was the deal, rather than by management.”
The two laptops were returned to the Department of Computer Science and Cabinet and the first laptop was set aside, while the executive officer’s laptop was backed up immediately and then “returned in the image “so that it could be reused for a new beginner.
“In view of the above, the comment that has suggested that laptops were ‘hijacked’ and ‘erased’ as a result of an ‘attack’ on the offices of the integrity commissioner is, in the opinion of the CCC , an erroneous characterization of what happened “.
The report said the integrity commissioner learned that the laptops had been taken away three days after they were picked up.
He noted in the file that, in relation to the executive officer’s laptop, the work could contain information about pressure groups.
The CCC said a public report of its investigation was appropriate to “provide an accurate picture of what the evidence suggests actually happened.”
“The lack of correction of the confusion and misinformation surrounding these events may continue to erode public confidence,” the report says.
The CCC also made recommendations in light of the investigation, including the instance of “considering” the ongoing suitability of administrative and government agreements with the PSC.
“Finally, this investigation highlights the difficulties that arise due to the current administrative and government provisions related to the Integrity Commission,” the report states.
The investigation “declares the record”
Attorney General Shannon Fentiman said the investigation “leaves the record” and “Queenslanders deserve to know the truth of the matter.”
“The CCC report delivered today is effectively a rain bomb on the so-called hell of David Crisafulli’s integrity,” he said.
“Today they must absolutely stand up and apologize to the Queenslanders.”
Queensland Attorney General Shannon Fentiman. (AAP image: Glenn Hunt)
In a statement, the opposition said the report reinforces its calls for “improving its independence and disengaging its governance” from the Public Services Commission.
“The fact that these devices contained records of the integrity commissioner, including lobbyist files, highlights how dangerous and inappropriate this is,” the statement said.
The CCC report comes almost a week after the publication of the Coaldrake report, which recommends a number of changes to strengthen accountability and transparency mechanisms in the Queensland government, including a ban on “double hat” lobbyists as political activists.
Prime Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk announced today that three pressure groups aligned with Labor will not be able to liaise with the state government for the remainder of this term.
He said the ban applies to Evan Moorhead, David Nelson and Cameron Milner.
The trio worked on the Labor re-election campaign in 2020.
Posted 9 hours, 9 hours ago, Monday, July 4, 2022 at 7:50 AM, updated 7 hours, 7 hours ago, Monday, July 4, 2022 at 9:30 AM