Already a subscriber?Western Australia’s anti-corruption chief says the Labor government’s bid to boost the number of homes and residential developments by overhauling the state’s planning laws has created new misconduct risks.
“It doesn’t worry me … from the point of view of being the commissioner I haven’t seen any particular misconduct risk in politicians leaving parliament and getting work in the private sector,” he said.“I don’t see a problem if they are simply working in the industry like anyone else, and not inappropriately leveraging any residual political influence.
As for the planning overhaul, Mr McKechnie said the government would need to balance the reforms with the risks they created.“Whenever you are removing barriers which would otherwise be the checks and balances in a system – people might call that red tape but I like to call them checks and balances – there is undoubtedly a misconduct risk,” he said.
Applications for projects valued at $20 million or more in Perth and over $5 million in regional areas will be able to be lodged with WA’s Planning Commission for determination.