It’s the second time that charges have been dropped against Hanlon, in a case that stemmed from an ICAC investigation, prompting Attorney-General Kyam Maher to declare today that he would be seeking a briefing and a “please explain” from both the ICAC and the DPP.

The original case against Hanlon and fellow Renewal SA executive Georgina Vasilevski collapsed last year in the Adelaide Magistrates Court, when prosecutor Peter Longson conceded the DPP’s office did not have sufficient evidence to prove their guilt.

But the DPP later filed an ‘ex officio’ action in the District Court, seeking to pursue charges against Hanlon alone, of abuse of public office and dishonestly dealing with documents, relating to a 2017 work trip to Berlin.

However, prosecutors today dropped this case too on the day the trial was due to start.

Outside court, Hanlon slammed the way his case had been handled.

“We have spent thousands of hours on this case, trying to unravel what has been going on in this state in our agencies that are responsible for corruption and integrity,” Hanlon said, adding that their behaviour needed to be examined.

He said he hoped this would never happen again in South Australia to any public officer.

He said the emotional and financial toll on his family had been huge over the past four years.

SA Best MLC Frank Pangallo called for a royal commission into the integrity body.

Pangallo, who led changes to the ICAC Act last year, said the reforms which severely limited the scope of the ICAC’s activities “may not have gone far enough”.

InDaily has contacted the DPP for comment.

Premier Peter Malinauskas described the outcome of the Hanlon case as “truly shocking”.

“I find this whole case and the events that have played out before our eyes publicly, to be truly shocking,” he said.

“That’ll be worthy of greater examination in the future. We will turn our minds about how best to do that as quickly as possible.”