Australian Government is refusing to provide details of a secret year-long investigation into a "plausible and serious" corruption case

Australian Government is refusing to provide details of a secret year-long investigation into a "plausible and serious" corruption case within an Australian law enforcement agency.The Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity — the corruption watchdog that oversees the Federal Police and other crime-fighting agencies — delivered the report to Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus late last month.
It was the culmination of a protracted and detailed investigation involving four secret hearings and the use of "coercive" powers allowed under special laws.Integrity Commissioner Philip Moss has revealed to a parliamentary committee that for the past year he had been investigating what appeared to be significant and credible corruption first raised by the Australian Crime Commission."In relation to that particular case I used coercive powers and conducted four hearings," Mr Moss said. "It raised, on the face of it, very plausible and serious matters."
Mr Moss confirmed that the report had been "with the minister" since March 31, conceding it could theoretically sit unheeded in his office indefinitely.
"In theory that could happen, but that would not be allowed to happen — we would certainly be asking," he said.The allegations and the result of the investigation remain a mystery although given the commission's responsibilities it is likely to involve allegations of corruption in the Federal Police, the Crime Commission or a related agency.Mr Debus' spokeswoman, Samantha Wills, said the claims in the report could not be substantiated but confirmed that the Government will not be publicly releasing it."The minister has received the report, however, the Integrity Commissioner has advised him against releasing the investigation report at this time," Ms Wills said.Opposition justice spokesman Christopher Pyne said Mr Debus had a responsibility to indicate how he intended to deal with the issue. He said it highlighted a major deficiency in the handling of alleged corruption cases in the Commonwealth Government, raising the possibility that ministers could simply fail to act on politically sensitive investigations."There are situations even in the NSW jurisdiction right now with respect to corruption where a state minister might not want to pursue a particular activity if a report were made to them," Mr Pyne told the committee.Later, he said: "in the interest of public accountability and transparency which (Prime Minister) Kevin Rudd committed his Government to … this report, where appropriate, should be made publicly available with the Government's response released at the same time."The Federal Government is only required by law to table such reports in Parliament if investigations involved public hearings.