Is there no end to this most vexed of cases?
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The matter involving Bruce Lehrmann is a dark vortex that has lured all who dare touch it into its void. And seemingly no one has managed to emerge unscathed.
On Friday, as much of the country was once again gripped by the never-ending stream of lurid details emerging from Lehrmann's defamation case - the one he instigated - another announcement heralded a fresh chapter.
The ACT's corruption watchdog has confirmed it is assessing allegations into the conduct of Walter Sofronoff KC, who chaired the board of inquiry into the botched trial of Bruce Lehrmann.
The timing of the announcement was curious, as it coincided on Friday with the explosive evidence being given by a former Channel 7 producer about the lengths he went to in convincing Lehrmann to give what would be an ill-fated television interview last year.
He described how the sausage is made in the worst kind of chequebook journalism, giving salacious new details to an already sordid case, with an alleged sexual assault as its now long-ago flashpoint.
Meanwhile, here in placid Canberra, the integrity commission announced it was examining disclosures made by Mr Sofronoff to journalists during the inquiry, and the fact he leaked the report before he'd even given it to the government which commissioned it.
Soon after, the ACT's former top prosecutor Shane Drumgold launched legal action to invalidate the adverse findings made against him by Mr Sofronoff, arguing his communications with The Australian's columnist Janet Albrechtsen had "infected" the inquiry with bias.
In a saga that marches ever onwards, stopping for nobody in its path of destruction, it will be interesting to see whether the commission, if it goes ahead with a full inquiry, will keep up the pace.
This is, after all, the same commission that is yet to release its findings into the Canberra Institute of Technology's awarding of a series of contracts, worth $8.78 million, to companies owned by "complexity and systems thinker" Patrick Hollingworth.
The first findings into that disaster of public spending won't be seen until later this month, almost two years since the inquiry was launched.
That case led to the standing down - on full pay - of CIT chief executive Leanne Cover since June 2022, and a high level of scrutiny around contracts in educational institutions.
Two years is already a markedly long time to wait for integrity findings. Given the complexity and sensation as that of the inquiry into the Lehrmann case, how long might any inquiry into this matter take?
While it's true that this particular chapter of the Lehrmann case involves only a small number of individuals, it is inextricably intertwined in what will be one of the most complex cases of the decade.
READ MORE:
If it were to go ahead, an inquiry into Mr Sofronoff's conduct would, presumably, involve the territory's Chief Minister, the top prosecutor, a King's Counsel and a prominent conservative newspaper columnist, but they are all cogs in a much larger set of wheels that will not stop turning.
We are still yet to see an outcome from the integrity commission. If it decided to go ahead with a full probe of Mr Sofronoff, it would be stepping into a national spotlight that has burned just about person and institution before it.
Only time will tell if this watchdog proves itself to be a terrier with the nous and the teeth to do what the public needs, ensuring integrity in public office.
