{"id":576941,"date":"2026-02-09T06:58:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T06:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/576941\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T06:58:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T06:58:10","slug":"independent-inquiry-launched-into-nacc-chiefs-handling-of-defence-ties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/576941\/","title":{"rendered":"Independent inquiry launched into NACC chief’s handling of defence ties"},"content":{"rendered":"

The body responsible for holding the federal integrity watchdog to account will formally investigate it for agency maladministration and its chief, Paul Brereton, for officer misconduct over his defence ties.\u00a0<\/p>\n

National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) inspector Gail Furness wrote to the parliamentary body that oversees the NACC on Friday to alert it to the development.<\/p>\n

“I write to advise you that I have decided to investigate the complaints I have received about the NACC Commissioner’s involvement in defence-related referrals and the Commissioner’s ongoing role with the IGADF as complaints of agency maladministration or officer misconduct under s184(1)(e) of the National Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2022,” she wrote.<\/p>\n

“To date, I have been making inquiries about these two matters. Now having sought and received material from the NACC, I have decided that that information warrants an agency maladministration or officer misconduct investigation.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The ABC revealed last year that Mr Brereton was granted an age extension<\/a> to continue to consult for the body that carried out the Afghanistan War Crimes Inquiry and did so on the NACC’s time without the knowledge of the corruption watchdog or government.<\/p>\n

This work was only formally disclosed to Attorney-General Michelle Rowland on October 22 after media reporting prompted her to take the rare step of issuing a “please explain” letter to the commissioner,<\/a> asking why he did not “adequately disclose” his ongoing work with the ADF and to correct the record.<\/p>\n

Anti-corruption boss given ‘please explain’ over Defence ties<\/a><\/p>\n

Attorney-General Michelle Rowland asked Paul Brereton to explain why his ongoing ties to Defence had not been “adequately” disclosed in a letter sent last year.<\/p>\n

Mr Brereton’s original declaration, submitted on September 16 of last year, made no mention of the continued advice, nor did his declarations from 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n

Mr Brereton later announced he would recuse himself from all defence matters in October of last year to allay any concerns \u2014 a move his deputy commissioners said they felt had become “non-negotiable”.<\/p>\n

Greens senator calls for Brereton’s removal<\/p>\n

Greens senator David Shoebridge told the ABC it was time for the Albanese government to “work with parliament to remove Mr Brereton, and then start rebuilding trust in NACC”.<\/p>\n

“This is the second time that the conduct and behaviour of the NACC commissioner has triggered a formal investigation by the inspector. The last time was the Robodebt scandal,” Mr Shoebridge said.<\/p>\n

“The inspector has seen critical evidence from inside the NACC and has now announced it is serious enough to trigger a full investigation.<\/p>\n

“Last week the government backed in Commissioner Brereton, saying he had their full confidence. That decision by Labor looks completely reckless today.<\/p>\n

Former AG warned anti-corruption chief to manage conflicts<\/a><\/p>\n

A letter from Mark Dreyfus to Paul Brereton provides new insight into the expectations set for the inaugural chief of the anti-corruption watchdog.<\/p>\n

“NACC is meant to be spending its time and resources investigating integrity issues, not being constantly investigated for integrity issues.”<\/p>\n

It is indeed the second time Ms Furness has launched an official investigation into Mr Brereton.<\/p>\n

She previously made a finding of officer misconduct against him for failing to adequately manage a declared conflict of interest in relation to a past professional association with someone referred to the NACC over the Robodebt scandal.<\/p>\n

The NACC’s chief executive, Philip Reed, and Ms Furness will appear before Senate estimates hearings this afternoon. Mr Brereton is not required to attend.<\/p>\n

A NACC spokesperson told the ABC the commission had been made aware of the inspector’s investigation on Friday.<\/p>\n

“The Commission has already voluntarily provided a large amount of documentation and information in response to the Inspector’s preliminary inquiries” they said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It is otherwise inappropriate for the Commission to comment on matters the subject of the Inspector’s investigation. “<\/p>\n

Independent MP Helen Haines described the decision to investigate complaints against Commissioner Brereton as “extremely serious”.<\/p>\n

“Australians are disappointed and concerned that, since the NACC’s establishment, so much attention has been on the commissioner himself,” she said.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Attorney-General said the government had legislated an independent anti-corruption commission with strong oversight.<\/p>\n

“That oversight is working as intended,” they said. “The Government continues to support the important work undertaken by the Commission and its Commissioners to detect and deter corruption.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The body responsible for holding the federal integrity watchdog to account will formally investigate it for agency maladministration…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":359326,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[4740,174792,137077,50,174791],"class_list":["post-576941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-australia","tag-gail-furness","tag-nacc","tag-news","tag-paul-brereton"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116039378781277660","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}