Senior Liberal ministers believe the government must avoid a negotiation in the Senate that gives the new agency similar powers to the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption when the federal proposal goes to Parliament within weeks.
Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce aired the concerns on Monday morning by likening the state commission to the Spanish Inquisition and saying politicians should answer to the people rather than bureaucrats.
Liberal MPs saidthe fall of Ms Berejiklian last Friday,when she announced her resignation after ICAC named her as the subject of an investigation,meant they would be cautious in voting to set up the federal body.
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“It basically confirms the government should have a ‘hasten slowly’ approach in terms of getting it right,” said one MP who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“The concern is about avoiding the NSW scenario,so this will confirm the thinking in the party room that the new integrity commission needs to have lots of protections for people who have accusations levelled against them.”
Another Liberal said the government would need to be careful with the model it put forward given that the NSW commission was at one “extreme” of the options compared to other agencies with more safeguards.