Last month, NACC Deputy Commissioner Kylie Kilgour all but exonerated the six people subject to potential prosecution by the Royal Commission. What’s the scam?
The scam is Kilgour claimed the public “misunderstood” what the Royal Commission said, when it is the NACC that misrepresented what Commissioner Catherine Holmes did say, stating in the NACC March report that:
“The Royal Commission did not (our emphasis), as has been commonly misunderstood, refer anyone to the NACC for civil or criminal prosecution, as this is not a function of the NACC. Criminal prosecution is a matter for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions”.
While that is true, it is not the same as inferring what the Royal Commissioner intended in prominently making her recommendation.
In addition to her list of 57 recommendations, Robodebt Royal Commissioner, Catherine Holmes, made an additional recommendation, making particular reference in one of the four paragraphs she addressed to the Governor-General in her covering letter, stating:
“I have provided to you an additional chapter of the report which has not been included in the bound report and is sealed. It recommends the referral of individuals for civil action or criminal prosecution. I recommend that this additional chapter remain sealed and not be tabled with the rest of the report so as not to prejudice the conduct of any future civil action or criminal prosecution” (our emphasis).
Ms Kilgour is essentially a bureaucrat with a law degree, yet she felt authorised to take upon herself the matter which a DPP would usually decide. In effectively exonerating four of the six individuals, she also decided that there was not sufficient evidence against the two individuals she found to have acted corruptly to warrant referral for criminal prosecution.
It will not be lost on the 470,000 Australian citizens who were the targets of erroneous debt notices that they have
once again seen justice evade them as due process of the law is turned on its head.
Paul Begley worked in public affairs roles for three decades, most recently as general manager of government and media relations with the Australian HR Institute.