([12.137]). As at 24 August 2018, the scope of works for that project had not been finalised. Whether it met the RCD Fund guidelines was unknown, and a final business case had not been approved ([12.137]).
271 At that time, the view of Mr Barnes, then a deputy secretary of Regional NSW, was that the funding was not in the public interest ([12.124]); Ms Cruickshank said she was "definitely not pushing RCM Stage 2" ([12.130]).
272 There was no evidence that anyone other in Government than Mr Maguire supported RCM Stage 2 ([12.133]). Ms Cruickshank said that she would have been "surprised" if she had been aware that Mr Maguire had been consulted regarding any by-election commitments; and Mr Harley agreed that it would have been "a little bit strange" where Mr Maguire was by that time "persona non grata" ([12.280]).
273 In the broad scope of circumstances to which the section might apply, there is no reason in the language of s 8(1)(b) or otherwise for construing the reference to "partial conduct" as confined to treatment which is different from the treatment of other persons or things in "relevantly identical" circumstances. Making such a comparison is but one way to assess whether a person has been preferred or advantaged.
274 This ground of review is rejected.
Ground of review 11
275 This ground is as follows:
Further or in the alternative to ground 1, the Commission made a material error of law in finding that the duty in s 11(2) of the ICAC Act to report to the Commission any matter that the person suspects on reasonable grounds concerns or may concern corrupt conduct does not need to be confined to a 'matter' involving some specified subject matter, and may involve a generalised suspicion divorced from any particular subject matter (R [13.11]–[13.21])…
276 Section 11(2) of the Act imposes a duty to report to the Commission "any matter that the person suspects on reasonable grounds concerns or may concern corrupt conduct". The applicant submits that the "matter" to be reported must be a "specified subject matter". It is said that the identification of such a subject matter is necessary to permit a sensible consideration of whether there were "reasonable grounds" for a suspicion of corrupt or possibly corrupt conduct. Section 11(2) is said to require the reporting of something which is "articulated sufficiently to permit it sensibly to be regarded as possibly… corrupt".
277 This argument was made to the Commission. The Commission said in response, and by reference to the guidelines issued under s 11(3), that in its view the reporting provision may be engaged by a broad range of conduct, including where "a person [does] not even have information which identifies the individual" or where a "reporting minister … merely [has] observed an isolated act, which even without a context as to
