I started a week’s leave on Friday and spent the day watching the live feed of former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian giving evidence at the Independent Commission Against Corruption, (ICAC). It was gripping.
I’ll leave it to the Commissioners to make their judgement but think it is timely to explore what constitutes a conflict of interest.
Whether you’re dealing with public funds, donor funds, or shareholder funds, declaring a conflict of interest is standard practice in business, on boards, and (yes) in politics.
If you’re making decisions about funding, appointments, or investments, you have a duty to declare any actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest.
The Australian Institute of Company Directors website quotes Dr Simon Longstaff from the Ethics Centre as saying that conflicts of interest aren’t wrong in themselves. It’s how they are managed and disclosed that is the issue.
Ms Berejiklian’s defence at ICAC is that she didn’t benefit from the grant decisions she made. And that despite being in a secret relationship with him, the MP lobbying for them wasn’t a member of her (legal) family.
And therein lies the heart of the problem.
Because if you care about someone – if they are, as she described it, in your ‘love circle’ – you cannot make objective decisions about them. By its nature, such a relationship is subjective. You can’t be impartial, even if you believe you are.
Good practice is to be transparent. To declare the interest and ‘recuse’ yourself (remove yourself from participating) from the decision.
It happens in boardrooms around the country. It should also occur in the cabinet room.