Corruption fighter Tony Fitzgerald — the architect of Queensland's crime and anti-corruption watchdog — said he "couldn't see any good reason to refuse" when Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk asked him to head an inquiry into the agency.
Mr Fitzgerald will be joined by former Supreme Court Justice Alan Wilson in a royal commission-style inquiry that will be the second time in the Crime and Corruption Commission's (CCC) 30-year history.
The inquiry will review the investigative and charging powers of Queensland's CCC, as well as the role of seconded police officers to the body.
It is the second time the CCC has been subject to a royal commission inquiry since its inception as the Criminal Justice Commission (CJC) in late 1989.
It has been previously subject to administrative reviews, including the 1996 Connolly Ryan inquiry into the CJC's operations and another by former Australia Federal Police commissioner Mick Keelty, at the behest of then-Queensland premier Campbell Newman in 2013.
The CCC was created following the historic Fitzgerald Inquiry in the 1980s that uncovered systemic corruption in Queensland and was headed by Mr Fitzgerald.
Ms Palaszczuk announced the six-month inquiry yesterday — one of several recommendations in a scathing report to parliament by the bipartisan Queensland parliamentary committee that oversees the CCC.
The Parliamentary Crime and Corruption Committee (PCCC) recommended such an inquiry after finding the watchdog had overstepped its powers, finding it breached its duty to remain independent and impartial in charging eight Logan City councillors with fraud.
The charges were later dropped.
It found CCC chair Alan MacSporran had not ensured the watchdog acted independently and impartially at all times.
Mr MacSporran resigned last week, saying his relationship with the parliamentary committee had "irretrievably" broken down.
He defended his decades-long career where his honesty and integrity have never been questioned.
The announcement came as Ms Palaszczuk continued to reject calls for a wider inquiry into the relationship between her third-term government and the public service from the Opposition, Queensland's outgoing Integrity Commissioner, and a former State Archivist-turned-whistleblower.
The inquiry is expected to take six months and starts on Monday.
Corruption fighter Tony Fitzgerald
Mr Fitzgerald's extensive and distinguished legal career dates back to the 1970s and according to his online profile, he is working as a mediator and arbitrator with a New South Wales law firm.
He has worked across Australia including being appointed the inaugural president of the Queensland Court of Appeal in 1991.
Prior to that, he was a Federal Court judge but resigned in 1984 to return to Brisbane's private bar.
In 1987, he led the transformative Fitzgerald Inquiry into corruption in Queensland that ended 30 years of National Party rule with the jailing of a police commissioner and three former state government ministers.
In another historic first, when Mr Fitzgerald resigned from the Queensland Court of Appeal in 1998 he served as an acting appeal judge in the NSW Supreme Court.
Mr Fitzgerald previously spoke out against the Newman government as they unsuccessfully contested a second Queensland term.
In an opinion piece written for The Drum, he warned it would be "sheer folly" to vote for a political party that "refuses to accept that there are limits on the proper exercise of democratic power".
He also criticised the LNP's introduction of harsh anti-bikie laws, for weakening the CCC, and for treating "the community with contempt".
Retired Supreme Court Justice Alan Wilson
Mr Wilson is also no stranger to public inquiries.
In 2015, he was appointed by the Queensland government to review the Newman government's anti-bikie laws.
Under his review, Mr Wilson's task force recommended the scrapping of the state's "excessively harsh" Vicious Lawless Association Disestablishment (VLAD) laws, where members or associates of serious crime would have to serve up to an extra 25 years on their prison sentence.
The review also recommended bikies be given control orders similar to those placed on sex offenders and terrorists and introduction of new consorting laws.
Around the time the task force submitted their report to the government, CCC head Alan MacSporran wrote to the review, warning outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMCGs) were poised to regroup and obtain a foothold.
"Several OMCGs have sought to establish or re-establish a presence on the Gold Coast, after their influence waned in the wake of the 2013 'crackdown'," Mr MacSporran wrote in a letter released under Right to Information.
Mr Wilson has also had a long distinguished legal career in Queensland, starting as a barrister in 1982.
He was first on the judicial bench in 1998 working in the District Court, Children's Court and president of Queensland's Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
In 2009, he was appointed a Supreme Court Justice, before retiring in 2015.
Mr Wilson used his retirement speech to air serious concerns about then Chief Justice Tim Carmody, claiming he had failed to gain the respect of Queensland's judiciary.
At the time of his appointment to the review of the anti-bikie legislation, Mr Wilson said his criticism of Justice Carmody would not impact on his review of the laws that the Chief Justice was seen to support.
