Anti-Corruption Boss Stays Put After Robodebt ‘Mistake’

An anti-corruption watchdog boss has apologised but refuses to resign after being found to have engaged in misconduct over the robodebt scandal. A report in October found National Anti-Corruption Commissioner Paul Brereton hadn’t adequately excused himself from a decision not to investigate six referrals from the robodebt royal commission over the illegal scheme. “I’ve accepted that viewed through the lens of the legal notion of apprehended bias I’ve been found to have made a mistake for which I’ve taken sole responsibility,” the commissioner told a National Public Sector Governance Forum in Adelaide on Nov. 15. “Given the need to ensure that there’s public confidence in the process, we decided that the original decision should be reconsidered by an eminent, independent person, and in this way, the mistake will be rectified....