“Of the Integrity Commission performing its role, what has happened to Operation Kingfisher?… Damocles’ sword has been hanging over the head of Deputy Chief Minister Yvette Berry for much too long,” writes political writer MICHAEL MOORE.

It is time to look critically at the ACT Integrity Commission. 

It has recently come under fire from the Commission’s Inspector, the outcome of Operation Kingfisher is still months away, and there are concerns about the level of funding provided for the Commission.

The most significant of these criticisms by the Commission’s Inspector is in the report titled Investigation into procurement by the ACT Integrity Commission. This report examines procurement processes and a possible conflict of interest regarding the reappointment of the retiring Integrity Commission’s former CEO in a position as a consultant.

The Inspector of the Integrity Commission, Iain Anderson, is also the ACT Ombudsman. Like the Integrity Commission, the ACT Ombudsman largely operates at arm’s length from the government. Reports of both are tabled by the Speaker in the Legislative Assembly. 

The Integrity Commission was not found to be in breach of any statutory obligations. “Rather, the central and repeated issue identified in the investigation is that there is insufficient documentation of the reasons for, and consideration of, the procurement decision”. The Inspector explained that concerns could have been avoided, “by seeking independent advice”. 

The recommendation of “independent advice” was rejected by the Integrity Commissioner, Michael Adams KC, as was a recommendation to develop a procurement policy that was considered as “imposing additional standards”. 

However, the ACT Integrity Commission did accept to “develop and maintain a register of mandatory staff training, to include training on conflicts of interest and bias and procurement training”.

The response of the Commission was strident, denying any breach with “of the applicable procurement legislation or regulations occurred in relation to the procurement examined in this report”.

The driving concern of this report is expressed in the concluding remarks: “Even the perception of bias, conflicts of interest or impropriety can erode public trust and impact the Commission’s ability to perform its role effectively”.

Speaking of performing its role, what has happened to Operation Kingfisher? This is the investigation examining whether public officials within the ACT Education Directorate failed to exercise their official functions honestly and/or impartially when making recommendations and decisions regarding the Campbell Primary School Modernisation Project.

Damocles’ sword has been hanging over the head of Deputy Chief Minister Yvette Berry for much too long. The investigation is looking at actions that occurred between 2019 and 2020. The latest public hearings were in August and December of 2023, and at that time the Commission outlined the intention to receive public submissions.

It is true that the Integrity Commission has been focused on other issues. While Operation Kingfisher seems to wallow in limbo, this year the Commission has presented to the Legislative Assembly a series of reports including on Operations Athena, Juno, Luna and Falcon. 

Why have these reports been given priority over Operation Kingfisher? Is it that there is inadequate funding for the Integrity Commission to do its work? Is it a deliberate ploy of the government? Is something else at play?

In 2023 the head of the Education Directorate, Katy Haire, attempted to shut down or delay Operation Kingfisher through a Supreme Court challenge. The matter was due to be recommenced in November 2024. However, following withdrawal of the challenge by Ms Haire, a final judgment was delivered in March 2025, with no findings against the Commission and no orders regarding costs. 

This Supreme Court challenge certainly delayed the process for months, including well beyond the ACT election. Even though such challenges can be used to deliberately delay proceedings, a key consideration for the Commission remains procedural fairness.

Procedural fairness includes providing a minimum of six weeks for interested parties to provide submissions on a draft. This provides an opportunity for some to take legal action. For others, to put their perspectives and attempt to persuade the Commission that a concept, or even a detail, needs to be corrected. This final step may force even more delay.

When asked about when the Kingfisher report is to be tabled, the Commission responded explaining some of these procedural and fairness factors and stating: “Suffice to say, we estimate that the final report required to be provided to the Speaker is some months away”. We won’t hold our breath.

The Integrity Commission is an important part of ensuring accountability of government. The Commission needs to be squeaky clean in reality and perception, and have enough funds to operate efficiently.

Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and an independent minister for health. He has been a political columnist with “CityNews” since 2006.

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