Tag Archives: Chris Merritt

After talking to the NSW government for five years, drilling contractor Warwick Howarth felt he had no option but to resort to litigation to recoup the $28 million loss that he says was imposed on him by the government of former premier Barry O’Farrell. “We pretty much exhausted all avenues ...

Repercussions from a brief hearing yesterday in the NSW Supreme Court are set to affect every politician and public official. The circumstances in which they risk criminal prosecution over decisions that bestow benefits are now more certain. This will act as a long-overdue guide for anti-corruption commissions whose work, until ...

After having his criminal conviction quashed and being ordered to face a retrial, former NSW minister Ian Macdonald is taking legal advice on whether to call Labor senator Kristina Keneally to repeat her secret evidence that he says supports his innocence. Mr Macdonald, freed from jail last month by the ...

Ministers in every government — state and federal — are the biggest winners from yesterday’s courtroom victory in NSW by Ian Macdonald and John Maitland. They now have the benefit of bright-line guidance on exactly what sort of decisions will amount to the criminal offence of misconduct in public office. The ...

Christian Porter’s proposal for a federal anti-corruption commission has achieved something remarkable. The Attorney-General has positioned the Morrison government as the champion of human rights. Equally remarkable is the reality confronting Bill Shorten’s Labor Party: unless it takes great care, Labor could find itself pushed into the arms of a ...

So far, the collateral damage ­inflicted on the innocent has been given insufficient attention by those who are clamouring for a federal equivalent of the NSW ­Independent Commission Against Corruption. That needs to change. The NSW experience should be closely examined to ensure the commonwealth does not follow this state’s ...

With a little effort, benefits can be discerned from even the most ­lunatic of ideas. And so it is with the present push to create a federal ICAC. A bill to create just such an ­organisation is likely to emerge next week from crossbenchers in federal parliament. Even if it ...

What happened to Andrew Cornwell is so troubling it deserves to be taught in law schools as an ­example of how fragile human rights can be when subjected to ­attack by powerful institutions. The threat is particularly acute in NSW, where the University of Sydney wants its own Star Chamber ...

NSW prosecutor Margaret Cunneen SC has called for the state’s anti-corruption agency to be subjected to a new system of merits ­review aimed at weeding out mistakes that currently remain ­uncorrected. Ms Cunneen questioned why those who are found to be corrupt by ICAC, but who are never charged with ...

As a former president of the Law Council of Australia and the NSW Bar Association, the opinions of Bret Walker SC on questions of law are keenly sought. He has provided advice for all manner of clients, including the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption. This is why politicians should pay ...