Crime fighter may lose its bite Appetite for reform: Campbell Newman. It was a time of shadowy prostitution and illegal clubs, standover merchants and thugs, crooked police and politicians, and the beginnings of the serious drug trade in south-east Queensland. The whiff of corruption had lingered for a decade in Queensland before acting premier Bill Gunn - a National Party MP - pulled the trigger that launched the Fitzgerald Inquiry in May 1987. By the time Tony Fitzgerald, QC, tabled his report in state Parliament in July 1989, political change was near. In December 1989, Queenslanders ended 32 years of conservative rule, chopping the Joh Bjelke-Petersen era off at the knees. Shedded light on corruption in Queensland: Tony Fitzgerald. Queensland's Crime and Misconduct Commission, a key legacy of the Fitzgerald Inquiry, is now under fire on multiple fronts. CMC chairman Ross Martin has resigned after taking sick leave to focus on his battle with cystic fibrosis, the commission's release or destruction of sensitive Fitzgerald Inquiry documents has triggered a parliamentary probe and its very structure could significantly change. The question is whether the CMC has strayed too far from its crime-fighting brief or whether, as the critics claim, the Campbell Newman government is undermining it. A legal figure who was intimately involved in the Fitzgerald Inquiry believes the CMC has exceeded its brief. And an academic, who wrote a chapter on the inquiry for a tome on politics, agrees but has concerns about the hard line on "baseless" complaints, concluding it could discourage legitimate whistleblowers from coming forward. The CMC has the powers to investigate official corruption and major crime as well as responsibilities to protect witnesses and review legislation. In late 2011, with an eye to the state election in March 2012, the Bligh Labor government requested the corruption watchdog review Newman's pecuniary interest declarations made when he was Brisbane's lord mayor. Days out from the election the commission announced there was no evidence of official misconduct by Newman. After settling into Queensland's top political job, Newman declared "enough's enough." The new Premier asked former High Court judge Ian Callinan and UQ professor of law Nicholas Aroney to review the commission, focusing on "how the CMC could continue to do its job without being drawn into political debates." Callinan was the man who advised Gunn to set up the Fitzgerald Inquiry in 1987. On Wednesday chapter 11 of the Callinan report - a summary of conclusions and recommendations - was released. The recommendations, if adopted by the Newman government, will radically reshape the crime-fighting, anti-corruption body. The CMC will be restructured and will only undertake research requested by the government or approved by the Attorney-General. With a few caveats, it will be an offence for any person, including a CMC officer, to disclose that a complaint has been made, the nature, substance or subject of the complaint or the fact the CMC is investigating. The recommendations will raise the threshold on what constitutes official misconduct and mete out financial and criminal penalties to those who make baseless complaints. The Callinan/Aroney report found that the "vast majority" of complaints are "trivial, vexatious or misdirected." Civil libertarians and the Queensland opposition have condemned the proposed changes, with Labor accusing the government of trying to "muzzle ... the independent watchdog" to satisfy its "vendetta against the CMC." Tony Morris, QC, has a special insight, working with Fitzgerald day and night during the Fitzgerald Inquiry. Morris believes the CMC's "brief" is out of step with what Fitzgerald had in mind decades ago. "Mr Fitzgerald contemplated a sunset clause in the original legislation because he foresaw the danger of having a standing commission with such wide powers continuing forever," he said. The idea was that it would last for a limited period of time - whether that was 10 years or 20 years or whatever - and then it would disappear. Morris argued the CMC's evolution had resulted in a "big change in its focus," taking it "away from misconduct of the very kind that the Fitzgerald Inquiry was looking into." University of Queensland Emeritus Professor Roger Scott - a former public servant who has written extensively on the Fitzgerald Inquiry - agrees in part. He believes the Callinan report is "putting its finger on" the sense of frustration and has made two "very good recommendations" to reduce its education and research roles, allowing the CMC to hone its focus on tackling official corruption. But Scott is concerned about the report's hard-line approach to complainants, concluding public servants are already "very frightened" about the Newman government's attitude to the bureaucracy and are unlikely to "put their head up" even if they have legitimate concerns about official corruption. Morris also believes the CMC has allowed itself to be drawn into basic police investigation, rather than just focusing on corruption. Morris prefers the NSW model of having an Independent Commission Against Corruption solely focused on identifying corruption. On that point, Morris' view is contrary to that of Fitzgerald, who expressed doubts about this approach in his original report: "Apart from anything else, there must be concern that an ICAC, no matter how well-intentioned, may in time become part of the corruption problem, which means that criminals may then have access not only to enormous funds, but also to a powerful body well-placed to intimidate people and pervert the process." Newman is yet to put a timetable on when any changes will be rolled out but has clearly displayed his appetite for reform. "We need to ensure that the CMC is not used to settle personal or political scores," he said. We need reforms to ensure the organisation focuses on the big issues of corruption and official misconduct, but particularly on organised criminal gangs that have unfortunately started infiltrating Queensland. That's where the scarce dollars should be going.