CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
After spending the best part of a decade moaning that the state’s ICAC has too much power, South Australian Attorney-General Vickie Chapman has been suspended from state parliament for six days for deliberately misleading the house.
Ironically, the state’s Independent Corruption Watchdog didn’t even have to lift a finger to dig up this dirt. So just imagine what they would have found if the SA government hadn’t stripped ICAC of powers earlier this year.
The finding was possible because of multiple resignations from MPs within the Marshall government now means that the SA Liberals no longer command a majority in the 47-seat House of Assembly – leaving the politicians exposed to the type of accountability that comes with not having enough numbers to vote down any motions moved towards examining the actions and statements of Cabinet Ministers.
The successful motion was prompted by statements the Attorney-General made to parliament regarding a decision she made as Planning Minister to refuse a timber port on Kangaroo Island.
The motion said the misleading statements related to Ms Chapman’s property and pecuniary interests, proposed transport routes and a government report on alternative wharf sites.
Ms Chapman last week resigned as Deputy Premier and Planning and Local Government Minister, pending an inquiry into all of this stuff that ICAC apparently shouldn’t be allowed to look into.
Today, she delegates her powers as Attorney-General to another minister while an investigation is launched into whether she had a conflict of interest in refusing a port development on Kangaroo Island.
Despite a parliamentary committee finding she had a conflict of interest and misled parliament, Chapman has staunchly denied any wrongdoing.
However, since 2014, she has also staunchly argued that the Independent Corruption Watchdog operates with too much secrecy and needs to have it’s powers reined in.
Earlier this year, a bill was passed to do just that. This still wasn’t enough to stop Chapman’s own colleagues from voting with the opposition to launch an inquiry into her conduct.
The ICAC-less Federal Government is believed to be watching on in horror as the South Australian Liberals out-Gladys themselves by the day.
