grey corruption

Is it because corruption is now so much more common that we analyse it into its parts? We have the traditional forms of corruption which are clearly illegal, such as receiving money and other gifts from someone lobbying for something that they want done.  This kind of corruption is now referred to as black corruption.

It is contrasted with grey corruption, as in the channelling of favours towards friends and relatives, which, while not illegal, does cross the bounds of propriety and possibly short-changes the taxpayers. Grey corruption is a lowering of the high standards expected of the people who represent us in parliament.  The activity may not be illegal but it surely bends and breaks the rules that shape the culture of government office.

Grey corruption came to the fore in the report prepared jointly by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission and the Ombudsman on the Labor Government in Victoria.  They found copious evidence that the prevailing attitude was ‘the end justifies the means’, and that this had produced a range of bullying behaviours and shady activities for which the Premier apologised. In particular they were scathing about the activities of Adem Somyurek, pictured above.