Paul Brereton says ‘blame culture’ deters people from owning mistakes as he insists watchdog will not be influenced by public pressure

The National Anti-Corruption Commission chief has rejected calls to quit over his handling of referrals from the robodebt royal commission, suggesting he was being made a scapegoat and insisting neither he nor his agency will be influenced by public pressure.

Paul Brereton told a governance forum on Friday that he accepted the independent Nacc inspector’s finding that he had failed to adequately manage a declared conflict of interest in relation to a past professional association with one of the six people referred to the Nacc for possible corruption investigation.

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