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[Facilitator's Note: Thank you to Charmaine Rodrigues, Crisis Governance Specialist (Inclusive Political Processes), UNDP New York, for sharing this information.] The idea of having the [Australian] public fund elections or capping political donations was to prevent corruption in politics - and we know just how successful that's been, writes Mike Steketee. Public funding for federal elections was introduced by the Hawke government 30 years ago with the noble intention of preventing the corruption of the political system. Or so it was claimed at the time. In the words of the report of a parliamentary inquiry, getting taxpayers to pick up the tab "removes the necessity or temptation to seek funds that may come with conditions imposed or implied" and "it may relieve parties from the constant round of fundraising so that they can concentrate on policy problems and solutions". As it turned out, less true words have seldom been spoken. Read t...

The Philippine Supreme Court recently ruled that some aspects of President Benigno Aquino's Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) was unconstitutional, reasoning that it sidestepped the country's General Appropriations Act (GAA). Solita Collas-Monsod, a leading economist in the Philippines and former director-general of the National Economic Development Authority, says the DAP -- misrepresented as a pork barrel scheme by some political groups -- "was an attempt to make the budget process more flexible, allowing for innovation in the delivery of public services". Prof. Collas-Monsod continues: "In trying to tie the hands of a too-powerful executive (not only President Aquino), the high court may have overreached itself when it pronounced that all items in the DAP had no appropriations cover (that absolute). This, after the [Department of Budget and Management (DBM)] had submitted the list of projects undertaken by DAP and pointed out where th...

DILI --- Timor-Leste's Anti-Corruption Commission (CAC) is pleased to announce that the National Parliament has elected Adérito António Pinto Tilman as its next Commissioner. Mr. Adérito Tilman was elected 44 votes in favour, the required absolute majority, by the National Parliament on Tuesday (15 July 2014) afternoon, for a four-year term. As it heads into its second mandate (2014-2017), CAC is focused on raising and strengthening public awareness in order to build ethical integrity and professionalism in the public service and community. In addition, we will also continue to raise the organizational capacity of CAC by increasing our technical specialization in investigation and prevention. We are also committed to working in good faith with Prosecutor General’s Office, other government and civil society partners and the media to develop efficient working relationships. As a former judge and prosecutor, Mr. Tilman is the ideal person to take the Commission...

Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung has heard from numerous enterprises and residents who complained of having to pay small bribes to tax officers to complete their payments. “Taxpayers have to go to tax agencies many times and bribe officers to ‘be allowed’ to finalize the payments,” Dung said at a meeting in Hanoi. The main factor that helps tax officers easily demand bribes is Vietnam’s complicated tax procedures. Read the story By Nguyen Hang, Thanh Nien News

A recent ban on certain types of NGO activity has sparked claims that the Sri Lankan government is again attempting to silence critics and tighten its grip on power. The defence ministry this month banned NGOs from holding press conferences, awareness campaigns, training for journalists, workshops and disseminating press releases on everything from voter rights to exposing corruption. Read the Agence France-Presse story in The Guardian.

"Maybe it's not quite Dracula being left in charge of the blood bank, but there is an obvious problem in giving politicians the power to monitor and review the activities of the state's corruption watchdog." Read the full commentary by Michaela Whitbourn, in The Sydney Morning Herald.

An Australian Federal Police officer accused of serious bribery and corruption offences has been granted strict conditional bail, with a $1 million surety. Benjamin Joseph Hampton has been charged with 12 criminal offences relating to serious corruption and bribery allegations. The Director of Public Prosecutions had opposed bail because of concerns about $1 million Hampton has in a bank account after a recent property sale. Read the story by Lucy Carter in Australian Broadcasting Corporation.