THE Government's review of anti-corruption laws by Attorney-General John Rau is secretive, rushed and biased towards second best, the Opposition says.
Opposition justice spokesman Stephen Wade said the review had been cloaked in secrecy with Mr Rau refusing to release submissions or identify contributors.
"This Government has so little interest in transparency it won't even bother asking whether stakeholders wish for their submissions to be confidential," he said.
"The Rau review is invitation-only and is limited to existing agencies that have an interest in maintaining current arrangements."
The review was announced on May 6 and requests for submissions went out a week after the announcement giving stakeholders a month to respond.He said the Law Society and the Bar Association's submission to the review said given the brief time frame they had not had an opportunity to review the agencies and authorities mentioned by the Government in its correspondence in any great detail.
"They note that the review fails to even consider their preferred option of an Independent Commission Against Corruption," Mr Wade said.
"Both bodies would prefer a single, state-based overarching body in SA to promote public integrity and ethical conduct, raise awareness, and deal with corruption".
Mr Wade said that in Victoria the review was conducted by an independent authority while in SA the Government was conducting its own review which lacked transparency.
Mr Rau said he consulted regularly with agencies and authorities within the justice system. "I consider that the timeframe provided for submissions was entirely adequate," he said.
"Further, I have of course made myself available to meet those making submissions to discuss their views in greater detail. There will be further consultation as this process continues."
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