Former Morrison government ministers have declined to comment on whether former colleague Stuart Robert should come before the new National Anti-Corruption Commission on its opening day.

Nearly 50 leads were in the in-tray of the nation’s first anti-corruption commissioner, Paul Brereton, on Monday, in a first day on the job he said was also a “historic moment” for Australian democracy.

Speaking at its opening ceremony, Mr Brereton, a former state appeals court judge who is head of the NACC, said 44 online referrals and five telephone messages would be followed up in short order.

For a brief period, the NACC’s website appeared to give way under the strain of public interest when it went live on Saturday.

But some MPs sounded a word of warning.

We will hear you

“We will hear you,” Mr Brereton said.

“The people of the Commonwealth [of Australia] are no longer prepared to tolerate practices which might once have been the subject of, if not acceptance, at least acquiescence.”

The commission begins its work with a full to-do list later than had been promised.

The previous government did not deliver a promised integrity commission before it lost an election where the number of voters who said the government was run in the interests of the Australian people had plateaued at 12 per cent – 54 per cent instead answered “a few big interests”.

“You have clearly expressed the desire for a Commonwealth anti-corruption agency,” Mr Brereton said.

Word of warning

Nationals frontbencher Barnaby Joyce issued a warning on the commission’s first day.

Mr Joyce warned the Greens against “politicising” the NACC after one of its senators compiled a wish list of future cases, including a lobbying firm, Synergy 360, linked to his former Cabinet colleague Stuart Robert.

Gold Coast voters will go to the polls on July 15 to select the MP’s replacement.

“What I would be really careful about would be weaponising things before [an] election,” he said.

“If it does not stack up the way you thought, it reflects very badly on the government.”

Money flowed from Synergy 360 into a discretionary trust connected to Mr Robert via a company run by his former business partner and fundraiser, John Margerison, it has been alleged in an ongoing parliamentary inquiry.

Mr Robert rejects those allegations but quit Parliament shortly after they were first aired.

Just one big tech client, Infosys, paid Synergy 360 $16 million in success fees over five years after Synergy 360 helped Infosys to win large government contracts, Parliament heard last month.

Over the past decade, Infosys has won more than $500 million in federal government work, tender records show.

Former social services minister Anne Ruston declined to comment on whether she expected Mr Robert to come before the NACC.

“It’s an important institution, but it has to be respected for its independence,” she said. “It’s not for me to be making comments.

“It’s up to those people to refer those matters to the commission.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton called for anyone with suspicions to refer them to the new integrity body.

“My position is very clear; I don’t believe I can be accused of going soft on law and order,” he said on Sunday.

The operation of big companies contracting to the federal government has come in for scrutiny at inquiries under way across the Parliament.

Greens Senator Barbara Pocock said she would also refer another big contractor at the centre of a controversy, PwC, which has won hundreds of millions of dollars in work despite one of its partners allegedly passing confidential secrets about tax laws to multinational clients looking to dodge tax.

“What we have in the National Anti-Corruption Commission is a clean skin. A new authority with exactly this charter, to look at corruption and investigate it fully with the resource of an independent body,” she said.

Eight PwC Australia partners directly involved in that scandal, including former chief executive Tom Seymour, will leave the firm, PwC announced on Monday.

Great power, responsibility

The commission does not need to receive a referral to act on information or mount an investigation.

Mr Brereton said the NACC was already aware of unspecified matters mentioned in the media.

But he issued a warning to any politicians thinking of capitalising on the commission by referring matters to it only for grandstanding or to score partisan points.

“Should it be sought to ‘weaponise’ the commission through inappropriate or unfounded referrals, I will not hesitate to use the power to make public statements, if necessary, to avoid unfair damage to reputations and to say that the referral was inappropriate,” he said.

“I want the commission to have the reputation of being fearless but fair, independent and impartial.

“While the legislation gives us great powers, with that comes great responsibility.”

The commission has vast powers and a vast brief to investigate suspected corrupt conduct involving federal government officials, including ministers, backbench MPs, advisers, public servants and government contractors.

It will focus on cases of serious and systemic corruption and hold its hearings in public only in exceptional circumstances.