Centre for Public Integrity

Host Michael Barker interviews Meg Webb MLC, independent member for Nelson in Tasmania’s Legislative Council, about her path from 20 years in community services and social policy advocacy into parliament after winning the open Nelson seat in 2019 and being re-elected in 2025. Webb discusses why Tasmania has strong independent representation, especially in the 200-year-old upper house, citing single-member electorates, rolling elections separate from lower house contests, and strict spending caps, alongside Hare-Clark proportional representation in the lower house. She outlines her campaign priorities—integrity, governance, gender equity, environment, and poker machine reform—and details work on integrity architecture including ministerial diary disclosure, right-to-information reform, and an exposure-draft Political Lobbying Integrity and Transparency Bill. Webb also describes creating Parliamentary Friends of Public Integrity to build cross-parliament culture and networks, and warns of growing poker-machine losses and ineffective harm-minimisation measures.
00:00 Introduction
01:09 Meg's Path into Politics
09:26 Tasmania's Independent-Friendly Upper House
16:08 Party Influence, Donations & Public Funding
19:33 Relational Influence & Gray Corruption Risks
22:36 Parliamentary Friends of Public Integrity
28:18 Ministerial Diary Disclosure
33:17 Lobbying Reform Bill
38:07 The Role of the Media
40:27 Right to Information Reform
44:34 What's Next & Poker Machine Reform
48:35 Closing

Episode Summary:
Michael Barker, former Federal Court judge and director of the Centre for Public Integrity, sits down with Kylie Kilgour — Acting Commissioner of Australia's National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) — for a wide-ranging conversation about the country's newest federal integrity body.
They explore the history of anti-corruption commissions across Australia's states and territories, and how the NACC came to be established in 2023. Kylie breaks down the legal definition of corrupt conduct under the NACC Act — from dishonest performance of duties to abuse of public office — and explains how the Commission decides which referrals to investigate.
The conversation turns to the landmark Robodebt investigation (Operation Myrtleford), where Kylie shares the findings against two officials and explains the reasoning behind conducting hearings in private. She also discusses Operation Pelican — the NACC's first prosecution — involving a bribery attempt over the Western Sydney Airport car park tender.
Kylie rounds out the episode with the Commission's performance to date: nearly 8,000 referrals received, 70 investigations completed, and a growing corruption prevention and education function. She also covers oversight mechanisms including the Inspector and the Parliamentary Joint Committee, which has a public inquiry currently underway.
Key topics: Anti-corruption law · Robodebt · Public sector integrity · NACC investigations · Australian democracy

Will Partlett speaks with Nick Feik, former editor of The Monthly, about the role investigative journalism plays in Australia’s integrity puzzle.
They discuss:
Why difficult stories often need sustained public attention before they produce reform
How reporting on Tasmania’s Ashley Youth Detention Centre and Robodebt exposed deeper institutional failures
Why public inquiries, parliamentary pressure and civil society all matter to accountability
The episode also examines the challenges facing investigative journalists, including defamation law, short media cycles and governments’ ability to delay or manage demands for reform.
Full show notes:
00:00 Intro
02:40 Media economics and scarcity
04:59 The accountability cycle explained
06:40 Tasmania’s abuse investigation
11:12 Power and reform networks
12:14 Working with crossbenchers
13:45 The limits of royal commissions
19:05 Defamation and its chilling effect
23:02 Robodebt as a case study
26:59 The NACC and public accountability
28:34 Why details take time
29:27 Closing takeaways

Will Partlett speaks with John McKechnie, former Western Australian Director of Public Prosecutions, Supreme Court judge and Corruption and Crime Commissioner, about the limits of “integrity” as an institutional slogan. McKechnie reflects on WA Inc, the creation of independent prosecution and anti-corruption bodies, and why corruption commissions must do more than promote good culture. They must investigate misconduct, expose failures and help ensure public power is exercised for public purposes.

SHOW NOTES:
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
01:06 Why Law School
02:24 Early Practice and Crown Move
04:12 Creating the DPP
06:09 WA Inc Taskforce Years
07:42 Epiphany to the Bench
09:37 Judge vs Prosecutor Mindset
11:18 Taking the CCC Job
13:19 CCC Powers and Jurisdiction
14:46 Prosecutions and Proof Limits
19:07 What Integrity Really Means
28:06 Velvet Glove Iron Fist
30:36 Wrap Up and Thanks

What does it take for an integrity watchdog to be genuinely independent? In this episode, Deborah Glass — former Victorian Ombudsman and honorary fellow at Melbourne Law School — explains why the answer goes well beyond personal integrity. She discusses the real pressures created by executive-controlled appointments, funding battles and weak oversight, and sets out what stronger institutional design could look like. This is a conversation about why the fine print of integrity reform matters, and why democratic accountability depends on getting it right.