Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission, I present the committee’s report of the inquiry into the Australian Crime Commission annual report 2006-07, together with the evidence received by the committee.

Ordered that the report be made a parliamentary paper.

The ultimate objective of the committee’s examination is to evaluate the performance of the ACC, identify its strengths and weaknesses and isolate any issues that may have hindered the effectiveness of the ACC. Overall, the committee is satisfied that the ACC appears to be working efficiently and effectively and it is pleased with the predominantly professional manner with which the commission has conducted itself. However, I note one point of concern for the committee resulting from a failure of the ACC to communicate with the committee concerning a matter within the committee’s area of legislative responsibility. I take this opportunity to emphasise the importance of openness between the ACC and the committee to maintain the integrity of the parliament’s administrative function.

The committee has made two recommendations to parliament in its examination which, if adopted, will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the ACC. The first of these relates to the inclusion of the Commissioner of Taxation on the ACC board. This is a recommendation that has been made by this committee previously, in the examinations of the 2004-05 and the 2005-06 annual reports. The government indicated in 2006 that it was giving due consideration to the committee’s recommendation. However, since that time we have not received a more substantive response, which is rather disappointing.

The appointment of the Commissioner of Taxation to the board of the ACC is a logical progression of the relationship between the Australian Taxation Office and the board. Many of the matters brought before the board for its consideration require specialist knowledge of the Commissioner of Taxation; in fact, ACC intelligence resulted in $75 million of tax assessments being conducted. The ACC’s report into organised crime underlined further the value of the close working relationship between the ATO and the board. Accordingly, I strongly endorse the committee’s recommendation that the government amend the Australian Crime Commission Act to include the Commissioner of Taxation on the ACC board.

The second of the committee’s recommendations pertains to the government’s response to the Trowell report, and in particular the behaviour of witnesses under examination from the ACC. The committee heard that certain individuals are employing delaying tactics, not only to advance serious organised crime but also to frustrate the efforts of ACC operations. The committee was greatly concerned to hear of these occurrences and has requested that the government expedite its response to the Trowell report, particularly its recommendation that the commission be conferred with the power to certify persons for contempt for not fulfilling their statutory obligations.

I wish to acknowledge the significant results that the ACC, its officers and its partner agencies have produced in 2006-07. In particular, I call attention to the remarkable figure of a massive illicit drug seizure with an estimated street value of more than $1.5 billion, and 429 charges laid in the reporting period. I understand that the investigations into these seizures are still being conducted, so that number is sure to increase, and I congratulate the ACC for its diligence and tenacity in eliminating the drugs scourge from our streets. I have no doubt of the important role the ACC plays in law enforcement in Australia. I am confident that the aforementioned recommendations will, if implemented, assist the ACC in its ongoing efforts to combat organised crime.

Finally, I take this opportunity to thank the chair of the committee, Senator Steve Hutchins, and my fellow committee members, particularly those present in the House, including the member for Werriwa, who will be speaking next, and the member for Sturt, who spoke previously. We are obviously working very closely, in a bipartisan way, to do our best to ensure that we are one voice fighting crime. I would also like to sincerely thank Dr Jacqueline Dewar, Dr Robin Clough, Monika Sheppard and Jill Manning of the secretariat for their work on this report and for the continued support they provide to the committee. I commend the report.

Chris Hayes (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am happy to follow the member for La Trobe in speaking on the report by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission. He is a very good deputy chair of this committee and, being a former police officer, understands full well some of the issues that go directly to law enforcement. This report is on the Australian Crime Commission’s annual report, which does require the oversight of the joint committee. I think it is fair to say that the committee agrees with the increased efficiency and operational services as reported by the commission. Generally, the commission has continued to refine and improve its intelligence and information systems and services, which are well received by clients of the commission—namely, the respective police forces around the country and the other law enforcement agencies which subscribe to the ACC.

In terms of the operations of the Australian Crime Commission, it is worth reporting that the ACC has significantly disrupted and deterred much serious organised crime activity over the past 12 months with its conducting of six special intelligence operations, four special investigations and three intelligence operations and task forces. In particular it is worth mentioning the enhancement of Australian criminal intelligence databases, the production of the Organised crime in Australia product, the launch of the high-quality Illicit drug data report and the establishment of the National Indigenous Violence and Child Abuse Intelligence Task Force. These things have taken much of the time of ACC personnel.

I agree fully with the two recommendations made by the joint parliamentary committee. As the member for La Trobe indicated, they were made on a bipartisan basis, supported by all members of the committee. I would also like to join with him in expressing my concern about the general lack of communications on some aspects between the commission itself and the oversighting body, that being the committee.

I think it has got to be understood by the Australian Crime Commission that it has very special and extraordinary powers. It has coercive powers, powers which are not common in most law enforcement agencies. But what goes with those powers is a great degree of responsibility. As a consequence, the decision was taken that part of that responsibility for the exercise of these powers would be the general oversight by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the ACC. The committee is not there as some form of bureaucratic appendage—a box that must be ticked once a year. It is really there to fulfil, I suppose, those extraordinary powers that this parliament in its wisdom decided to vest in the premier crime fighting organisation in this country.

It seems to me that what has occurred over the last 12 months is that perhaps we were not taken into their confidence. We are not there as investigators, we are not there to simply ask questions to gain information out of these professional investigators. We are there to fulfil our role on behalf of the community. From my point of view, and supported by my colleagues, I think there was a slight tendency for the organisation to think, ‘If you do not ask, you do not receive.’ I am sure that that is now being addressed. The committee has certainly made some significant comments to that effect, and I certainly lend my weight to those.

I would like to comment on our secretariat, Dr Jacqueline Dewar, Dr Robyn Clough, Ms Monika Sheppard and Mrs Jill Manning. We are fortunate to have a very talented, dedicated group of professional officers serving on this committee. These people work very hard to make us look probably better than what we are. They certainly put a lot of time and effort in, and I admire their professionalism. We are very lucky as a parliament to have access to people such as these for our parliamentary committee activities. I think where possible their effort should be appropriately recognised. I commend the report to the House.

Kelvin Thomson (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for statements on the report has expired.