PNG parliament tables anti-corruption bill

9:47 am on 6 November 2015

This story and its headline have been corrected.

The Papua New Guinea parliament has tabled a bill to set up an anti corruption agency, the Independent Commission Against Corruption, or ICAC.

Loop reported the ICAC Organic Law Bill was tabled and referred to the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Laws.

This followed an amendment to the constitution passed by parliament in 2014 to enable the ICAC to be established.

An ICAC has been sought by watchdog groups for many years amid concerns of rampant systemic corruption in the country.

Calls for an ICAC came to the fore since prime minister Peter O'Neill moved to dis-establish the anti-corruption unit Taskforce Sweep, which made inroads into prosecuting high level corruption among public officials.

The O'Neill government has starved the agency of funding and resources since the fallout from the Paraka Lawyers scandal last year, when Taskforce Sweep attempted to have the PM arrested.

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  • PNG anti-corruption group urges institutional strengthening
  • Transparency in PNG says ICAC must be more than window dressing