except the power to issue a warrant for the arrest of a person; the functions of the Commission under Div 5 of Pt 4 (Miscellaneous), which are not presently relevant; and the powers of a Commissioner under Pt 10 in dealing with contempt of the Commission (except for the power to issue a warrant for the arrest of a person). Finally, and again not presently relevant, the power of the Commission to direct non-publication (s 112(1) of the Act) was also conferred. Most significantly, the Chief Commissioner's delegation did not include the function of "making a report under this Act".
56 Ms McColl's appointment as an Assistant Commissioner was extended on four occasions: on 17 February 2021, to 30 June 2021; on 26 May 2021, to 31 December 2021; on 15 December 2021, to 30 June 2022; and on 8 June 2022, to 31 October 2022. That last date was after Ms McColl had presided over the two Operation Keppel public inquiries, the first concerning conduct of Mr Maguire, and the second concerning that conduct, as well as conduct of the applicant. Following that second inquiry, written submissions were received from Counsel Assisting and affected parties, including the applicant. The last of those submissions was received on 18 October 2022.
57 On 31 October 2022, Ms McColl was engaged under s 104B of the Act as a "suitably qualified person" to provide the Commission with "services, information or advice". It was common ground that the reason why Ms McColl was not reappointed as an Assistant Commissioner from 1 November 2022 was that cl 5(4) of Sch 1 to the Act provided that a person may not hold the office of Assistant Commissioner "for terms totalling more than 5 years", Ms McColl having held previous appointments as an Assistant Commissioner in the late 1990s.
58 The fact of Ms McColl's engagement as a consultant in relation to Operation Keppel was announced by a media release issued by the Commission on about 28 October 2022. That release described those services as "required for the purposes of her finalising the Operation Keppel report, including participating in the review and editing processes of that report". By a further press release dated 11 January 2023, the Commission provided an "Operation Keppel update" in which it was said that Ms McColl was "working to complete a draft of the report as soon as possible but, given these matters, it [was] not possible to specify a date by which it will be completed". It also stated that "once the report has been drafted it will need to be subjected to the Commission's review, editing and production processes".
59 The "review panel", consisting of, among others, the Chief Commissioner (the Hon John Hatzistergos AM) and Commissioners the Hon Helen Murrell SC and the Hon Paul Lakatos SC, received a draft report from Ms McColl on 8 February 2023. The members of that panel then met in late February and in early March 2023 to discuss that draft report. Meetings were then held between the Chief Commissioner and Ms McColl to discuss the panel's primary concerns, suggestions and recommendations and how Ms McColl proposed to address them. The review panel then provided comments to Ms McColl in relation to the draft report, and Ms McColl provided
