Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott tells Ben Fordham we don’t need a national anti-corruption watchdog and having one would be a “very, very bad idea”.

Mr Abbott says a federal Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is the last thing we should be hearing about from a Liberal-National coalition government.

“It was a Greens idea that Bill Shorten has adopted. I was a little dismayed to hear the Prime Minister say that it was being considered.

“There was a discussion the other day in coalition circles… I made the point that this is a bad idea.”

Mr Abbott says the NSW ICAC may have caught a few criminals, but also ruined reputations.

“The NSW ICAC is much better at destroying people’s lives than it is at uncovering real criminality.

“Sure the NSW ICAC helped to nail one or two bad guys, there’s no bad about that. But a lot of innocent people have been very badly smeared and had their careers and often their lives destroyed along the way.”

Mr Abbott also commented on Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce’s future in parliament.

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