The Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) is urging the WA public to take the time to think about how corruption may be affecting them.
In a statement made to coincide with the lead up to International Anti-Corruption Day on 9 December, the CCC noted that the now famous saying ‘power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’ was first coined in the late 1800s.
”So corruption itself is nothing new; what is constantly evolving is how corruption shows up in the Public Service and among people doing business with it,” the Commission said.
“The other constant reality is how corruption can pervade all levels of the Public Service and can impact everyone — often without anyone realising.”
The CCC said when someone in power was caught committing fraud worth millions of dollars it made headlines “but what about all the ‘smaller’ acts of corruption that go unnoticed?”
“Imagine you are applying for a job in the Public Service, but you don’t stand a chance because someone else is being favoured, not because of what they know, because of who they know,” the Commission said.
“Or your business is tendering for a Government contract, but it’s given to the project manager’s golfing buddy, with a thin veil of justification to make it look like it was a level playing field.
“Or your community group misses out on a Local Government grant because the chief executive is gambling the funds away.”
The Corruption and Crime Commission said that with around 200,000 people in more than 250 State and Local Government authorities, universities and other public Agencies in Western Australia, all of these ‘smaller’ acts of corruption added up, costing taxpayers millions of dollars every year.
The CCC said it launched a short video to showcase how corruption can affect anyone.
The Commission’s 1.36 minute video Think corruption doesn’t affect you? Think again, can be accessed at this PS News link. Note it has sound.
