Former journalist turned Queensland Integrity Commissioner, David Solomon, speaks to Adam Coleman.


Can you tell us a little about your career?

Almost my entire career has been as a journalist. I began in Sydney in 1962 and after 15 months moved to Canberra as the chief local reporter of The Canberra Times. Several years later I moved into the Parliamentary Press Gallery, first with The Canberra Times, then The Australian. I was The Australian’s chief political reporter and head of bureau for three years in the late 1960s, early 1970s. In 1975 I was Gough Whitlam’s public relations officer.

I had a visiting fellowship in politics at the Australian National University in 1976 and then completed a law degree.
When the High Court moved to Canberra in 1980 I began reporting on its activities (for The Financial Review) and also created a new journal covering the court, The Legal Reporter (it lasted 24 years).

In 1992 I moved to Brisbane to become the second chairman of the Electoral and Administrative Review Commission, one of the two bodies recommended in the Fitzgerald Report. When that finished I went back into journalism, as contributing editor of The Courier-Mail. I retired in 2005.

In 2007-8 I chaired the Independent Review of the Freedom of Information Act, set up by the Queensland Government, which resulted in the new Right to Information Act that came into effect on 1 July this year.

Between the early 1970s and 2006 I wrote (or co-authored – two with Laurie Oakes) 11 books on politics, government, the High Court and constitutional law.

In your view, are there any great similarities between the ethical dilemmas faced in journalism or law, and those of the public sector?

The ethical dilemmas vary across the professions. What is different about the public sector is the nature of the public duties that politicians and public servants have, including their obligations of trust and accountability and their duty to serve the public interest. Like everyone else, people in the public sector have private interests as well.

What is the primary role of the Integrity Commissioner? Is the role more guide dog than watchdog?

The main task o...
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