The NSW ICAC is celebrated for exposing corruption across politics, including the now-convicted former Labor ministers Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald. But as the third Liberal premier to resign as a result of ICAC scrutiny since 1992, Berejiklian’s demise is almost certain to provoke a backlash. The news followed the South Australia parliament passing sweeping amendments to its own Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) last week, narrowing the scope of its operations and reducing its transparency. Get news curated by experts, not algorithms. Both events bring sharp focus to the right balance of powers for all such bodies, especially the long-awaited federal integrity commission, still in the works over two years after being promised by the Morrison government. However, South Australia’s reforms in particular point to why a political backlash against these important agencies would be extremely unwise.

Source: As a NSW premier falls and SA guts its anti-corruption commission, what are the lessons for integrity bodies in Australia?