Tony Fitzgerald to head inquiry into corruption watchdog he created

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35 years after the landmark Fitzgerald Report uncovered systemic government and police corruption in Queensland, author Tony Fitzgerald is returning to investigate the anti-corruption organisation it resulted in.

Mr Fitzgerald will co-chair a Commission of Inquiry into Queensland’s Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) as recommended by the Parliamentary Crime and Corruption Committee (PCCC), alongside retired Supreme Court Judge The Honourable Alan Wilson QC.

“Who better than Tony Fitzgerald to conduct it?” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.

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“To do its job, the public must have absolute confidence in the CCC and this Commission of Inquiry.

“No-one can argue about Tony Fitzgerald’s independence.”

The announcement follows the resignation last week of the head of the CCC, Alan Macsporran, following months of pressure.

Former State Archivist Mike Summerell has recently added to the chorus, publicly claiming the Government has an integrity problem.

“Integrity officials need complete independence – operationally and financially ... they cannot be ‘threatened’ or impeded by those they are seeking to monitor,” he wrote today on LinkedIn.

“Let's have the conversation and air these issues and come out the other side with a truly more effective democracy.

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Under the terms of reference, the CCC’s structure and the role of seconded police officers will be scrutinised, with the inquiry expected to be completed within six months.

The Fitzgerald Inquiry’s hearings took almost two years in the late 1980s and led to the resignation of then Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen and the jailing of several ministers and a police commissioner.

The Criminal Justice Commission, which was later renamed the CCC, was set up to continue monitoring the conduct of public servants.