~Friedrich Nietzsche
“Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power.”
―
On October 19, 2012, a long-serving Australian Border Force official called Mohamed Deeb took a break from annual leave to stop by his office in Sydney. It was 6.40pm and he was checking on an incoming consignment of clothes.
Deeb made seven checks of the Customs database that Friday evening. Twenty hours later, on Saturday evening, he was back at it, checking the clothes import 16 more times. On Monday, the veteran ABF official checked again.
Deeb kept monitoring the clothes consignment while on leave up until the import was searched by officials. It was then that officers discovered six kilograms of methamphetamine hidden amongst the clothing. Three hours after the drugs were discovered, Deeb was at it again, performing a final search of the database. It confirmed the consignment had been intercepted or, in the jargon of the criminal underworld, was “hot”.
What happened next raises serious questions about Australia’s national anti-corruption regime. At a time when independent MP Cathy McGowan has tabled a private member's bill to establish a federal anti-corruption commission similar to ICAC in NSW or IBAC in Victoria – and the Morrison government argues the existing agencies are up to the task – the case of Mohamed Deeb suggests the national approach is in need of reform.
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