26 AUSTRALIAN LEFT REVIEW A PURCHASE on CORRUPTION The Fitzgerald Inquiry has been great theatre. It has also been hailed as proof that Queensland's own peculiar political system is capable of ref orming it­ self. John Wanna is not convinced. Even a change of government, he argues, won't alter much. t its height, Queensland’s power was operational and effective. ties promised to deliver a new in­ Fitzgerald Inquiry.rivalled a Government could be monitored tegrity in government while maintain­ Acarefully staged series of through existing institutions, and thus ing a suitable reticence over the details show trials. Brisbane audiences did not require substantial change. In of specific action against corruption. queued for hours to secure seats; a short, democracy was safe and robust. Corruption was taken up as an election "who’s who" of Queensland ap­ Accountability existed and, indeed, issue worth running a campaign on, peared in the witness stand; a bevy triumphed even if its renewal from the but considered to have little resonance of coy prostitutes ran the kerbside ashes had been seriously doubted for and little pay-off for those elected to gauntlet; and an insatiable mob of decades. govern. Thus, the three main party local and interstate media was agog This apologetic media account candidates for the state by-election in with the daily theatre. Queensland disgraced minister Don Lane’s old and, for much of the time, Australia shaped the terms in which the inquiry was hooked on the sheer entertain­ was represented in the public domain. seat of Merthyr each declared corrup­ ment value of the inquiry. An un­ Queensland politics became fuelled tion the main political issue facing ravelling plot of crime, sex and by a polemical but inconclusive Queensland. Yettheirrespective party power made it irresistible. public brawl over corruption and ac­ organisations remained far more cir­ countability. Much of this "debate" cumspect. Prospective or incumbent Public hearings finally ended in has taken the form of alleged charges governments had much to lose from February 1989 after extensive and and counter-charges, unctuous as­ continued attention to corruption. The vigorous investigations by Commis­ surances, and political party breast- immediate political risks of particular sioner Fitzgerald and his staff of over beating. More importantly, the public action or proposals were high. a hundred. The final report will be debate remained at the rhetorical As a result of the Fitzgerald inves­ delivered on July 3. The impact of the level, with very few substantive tigations, the political issue of corrup­ inquiry hearings has led many politi­ proposals emerging or being imple­ tion became prominent news in cal commentators to suggest that, after mented. Many promises were made; Queensland, capturing the public con­ years of abuse, neglect and corrup­ but actual reforms to the political sys­ sciousness. The abuse of public office tion, the political system was indeed tem were much less forthcoming. whether by politicians, senior public capable of becoming responsible and During 1988-89 the three main servants or police officers became a accountable. The very existence of political parties each assumed a major talking point for many such a far-reaching inquiry gradually holier-than-thou approach while en­ Queenslanders. Yet, almost ironical­ became construed as evidence that the gaging in a major public crusade ly, the outcome of such raised-con- system of checks and balances to against corruption. All political par­ sciousness was not sustained outrage AUSTRALIAN LEFT REVIEW 27 or mass disillusionment. Rather, of more immediate concern to those living under Queensland’s illiberal and frequendy uninformed political culture was a rare chance to be on the inside, in the "know", to exercise speculation, and perhaps to believe what they, of course, had suspected all along. Increased public awareness of cor­ ruption brought with it some social ac­ ceptance often premised on simplistic theories about "rotten apples" in the police and parliament Such views al­ lowed usually puritanical but phleg­ matic Queenslanders to maintain the pretence of their own moral rectitude. Despite the many allegations of cor­ ruption and ptrhaps because of the un­ ceasing public exposure of them, some Queenslanders adopted a self- righteousness typical of insular and hypocritical political cultures. This sanctimonious attitude was nowhere more apparent than in the new con­ tours of conservative politics in the post-Bjelke-Petersen era. Living in the city seat of a "bush" government, Brisbane residents believed the hearsay evidence presented to the commission of in­ quiry. After all, most Brisbanites had, at some time, driven past the seedy brothels in the traffic-congested For­ Morning Sydney Herald titude Valley. Many felt relieved that what they had "known" for years was Pholo: finally coming out into the open. Most Russ Hinze, former Minister for Everything, now sans everything. local residents retained their own tention given to corruption, the ministration - despite maintaining a anecdotal and sometimes apocryphal media’s presentation of the Fitzgerald ministry substantially similar to that of stories of police corruption, brothel Inquiry generated a gradual indif­ its predecessor. torchings, and apparent extravagance ference to the issues as the proceed­ Complacency was also evident from ill-gotten gains. The media rep­ ings continued. This may be largely from a further two sources of public resentation of the inquiry allowed unavoidable with any long-term perception. There were many who them to make sense of the fragments political issue. A few notable per­ considered that corruption arose from of their own knowledge, especially as sonalities were targetted for their mis­ the personal failings and lack of in­ Commissioner Fitzgerald acknow­ conduct and hounded from public tegrity of particular figures in public ledged that he had uncovered merely office, as was the self-confessed cor­ office. Others contended that the ex­ the "tip of the iceberg". Living uneasi­ rupt ex-Transport Minister Don Lane. isting political system was impervious ly under a majority rural government But, apart from this reaction, a to change or unlikely to adopt serious rife with cronyism, Brisbane conser­ resigned complacency emerged about reform. Therefore inquiries, extensive vatives also reflected that government the need for real changes in the sys­ publicity and scandals were routine was, by nature, a corrupting process; tem. This complacency was raised to occurrences but unlikely to produce too readily so when one party held of­ an art form by the succeeding Ahem any significant changes. fice alone, and for so long. administration, which denied any ac­ A further downstream effect of the Without diminishing the public at­ countability for previous malad­ media coverage of the inquiry may be 28 AUSTRALIAN LEFT REVIEW attributed to the emphasis placed on this delay made it clearer that the num­ administration of public affairs within the roles and awaited fates of impli­ ber of public officers likely to be the state government’s powers. cated personalities. Given increased charged was relatively small, and the Beyond the issue of personal cor­ public awareness of corruption, ex­ number likely to be convicted even ruption, this factor emphasises the pectations of "heads rolling” were smaller. It became increasingly evi­ basic asymmetry of responsibility in raised. By highlighting the spec­ dent that those accused of corruption Westminster-style parliamentary sys­ tacular, media accounts encouraged during the investigative process, but tems. In theory, responsibility is borne the view that extensive dismissals and pleading not guilty, would escape trial individually by the respective mini­ criminal proceedings against many of on charges of corruption. One reason ster and collectively by cabinet. In those allegedly involved would result for this was that often the type of practice, actual responsibility is trans­ from the inquiry hearings. This per­ evidence given at the inquiry was ferred to branch level officers. These ception later became a pressing politi­ presented in a legally ambiguous career administrators find respon­ cal problem for the governing manner that provided insufficient sibility thrust upon them and, unlike Nationals, as many of the "heads” grounds on which to secure convic­ politicians, have no avenues of retreat were their own supporters or appoin­ tions. Much of the "evidence" offered or alternative substitutes. The recog­ tees. to the inquiry was hearsay evidence, nition of this asymmetry in 1988 was In 1987-88 the inquiry produced often unsubstantiated and uncor­ one of the factors behind the police important, though limited, political roborated, with many ques­ fallout As in Japan where leaders ac­ tions remaining to be cused of corruption are often replaced answered. It was also dif­ to preserve the networks of influence, ficult to charge major Queertsland saw a spectacular politi­ figures who had left their cal "coup" surrounding the challenge public duty and whose for the premiership by Mike Ahem. recollections of previous The immediate impact of acknow­ events were hazy. Self-in­ ledged corruption was exploited by crimination remained the those in cabinet seeking to oust the principal means by which aged Premier. After the resignation of corrupt public officers were Bjelke-Petersen in December 1987, rooted out. Given that most his safe rural seat of Barambah was in­ officers did this under in­ itially lost to the far-right Citizens’ demnity from prosecution, Electoral Lobby. The "Minister for few could be expected to be Everything" Russ Hinze resigned in brought to justice. mid-1988 under pressure from the Indeed, charges for per­ new Premier and the ensuing Gold jury, contempt of court and Coast by-election produced a twenty increasingly for tax evasion percent swing against the govern­ (a la A1 Capone) became the ment. Then, in 1989, the former favoured means of proceed­ Transport Minister Don Lane ing against alleged con­ resigned after admitting to fraud, elec­ spirators.