NACC Commissioner Paul Brereton will no longer be involved in investigations concerning the ADF. Photo: ADF.
National Anti-Corruption Commissioner Paul Brereton will no longer be involved in Defence-related corruption referrals to the watchdog he leads, stepping away due to perceived conflicts of interest.
But the move has not quelled calls for him to step down from the role completely or be sacked.
Mr Brereton holds the rank of Major General in the Army Reserve and retains a high-level involvement with the Australian Defence Force.
It was revealed during a Senate Estimates hearing in October that the Commissioner continues to consult for the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF) and has undertaken 11 such tasks since his appointment with the NACC.
It was also revealed that neither the Commission’s chief executive officer, Philip Reed, nor the NACC Inspector, Gail Furness, had been aware of Mr Brereton’s consulting arrangement with the ADF.
The NACC has dismissed any suggestion of an actual conflict of interest, but the Commissioner’s decision to step away from cases investigating Defence was quietly made public.
At the close of business on Friday (31 October), a statement was included as part of a monthly update posted on the Commission’s website.
“Commissioner Brereton’s longstanding association with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) as a Defence Reservist for over 45 years, and his work as an Assistant Inspector‑General of the Australian Defence Force on the Afghanistan Inquiry, was a matter of public record and well-known before his appointment as Commissioner,” the statement says.
“This meant that there would always be the potential for conflicts to arise from past relationships, which would need to be managed.
“Upon appointment and since commencing as Commissioner, he has declared and appropriately managed any perceived or actual conflicts of interest relating to Defence referrals.”
The statement continues to explain that when a referral to the Commission has potentially affected any ADF unit or individual with whom the Commissioner is or has been associated in a way that might reasonably be perceived to create a conflict, he has delegated it to a deputy commissioner.
It noted that the Commissioner has not participated in the consideration of any matter involving the interests of the IGADF.
“However, the recent attention the Commissioner’s Defence service and connections have attracted in some quarters has become a distraction from the Commission’s work,” the statement says.
“Relinquishing those connections would not remove the potential for conflicts to arise because of the historic relationships.
“As a result, the Commissioner has decided that he will not participate in consideration of any referrals which involve the interests of any Defence or ADF individual or unit that is or comes before the Commission, regardless of whether it might reasonably be perceived to involve a conflict.”
The NACC said Mr Breteron’s step is “unnecessary from the perspective of properly managing actual or apparent conflicts”, but he is taking it “solely in an endeavour to recentre the focus on our important operational and educational work”.
Defence matters before the NACC will be allocated to a deputy commissioner. The Commission has three deputy commissioners. The Commission says Defence represents about 3 per cent of its referrals.
But Greens Justice and Defence spokesperson David Shoebridge said too many questions remain unanswered and the Commissioner’s position has become untenable.
“This is a ‘major-general’ backdown from Commissioner Brereton who, up until now, tried to stare down the growing public revolt over the conflicts of interest,” Senator Shoebridge said.
“In a show of contempt for transparency, the NACC only disclosed this major development with a website post put up after 5 pm on Friday night. There’s a name for this, it’s called ‘putting out the trash’.
“This announcement leaves so many unanswered questions. Why is Commissioner Brereton still a Major General in the ADF?
“What happens to all the Defence referrals he has been working on and making decisions on until now?
“Why is Commissioner Brereton being paid over $800k a year not to work on Defence referrals?”
Senator Shoebridge said Defence is embroiled in a “series of multi-million dollar procurement scandals” and one of the largest customers for the NACC, which had over 120 Defence referrals as at April this year.
“It remains untenable for Commission Brereton to stay as the NACC Commissioner given his repeated failure to deal with his own conflicts of interest,” he said.
“This latest step only highlights the damage he has done to the NACC’s public standing.
“Anti-corruption agencies should be modelling best practice, not cynically making significant announcements late on Friday afternoons.
“The Albanese Government needs to act and, if Commissioner Brereton will not leave of his own accord, bring the matter before the Parliament for a decision on his future,” Senator Shoebridge said.
In October last year, Ms Furness, as the NACC’s independent Inspector, found Mr Brereton to have acted inappropriately in the Commission’s decision not to investigate anyone referred to it over the illegal Robodebt Scheme.
She concluded the Commissioner failed to act properly after declaring a conflict of interest in relation to one of the referred persons, whom he apparently knows well.
