Conflicts and perceptions

What the Greens say:

Tim Morris MHA

Wednesday, 31 May 2006

AUDITOR-GENERAL REPORT ON GVM

Transparency Recommendations Vindicate Concerns & Labor Must Implement Them Immediately

The Tasmanian Greens have welcomed the Auditor-General’s special report on Contracts Appointing Global Value Management tabled in Parliament today, and have called on the Lennon government to implement all recommendations immediately.

Greens Shadow Infrastructure spokesperson Tim Morris MHA said that the report and its recommendations vindicated the original concerns he had raised regarding the potential for perceived conflict of interest in the manner in which contracts are awarded at the level of both State Departments and Local Government.

Mr Morris also reminded that while he welcomed the announcement earlier this year that the Auditor-General would investigate the issue of the awarding of contracts to GVM, he had warned that the Auditor-General would not be able to address the matter of perception of conflict of interest but could only conduct an audit of the available paperwork.

“The Greens welcome the Auditor-General’s report and call on the Lennon government to commit immediately to implementing all recommendations, as all those recommendations will assist in strengthening and improving the consistency of the State’s accountability and transparency mechanisms,” Mr Morris said.

“In particular the Greens’ endorse the need to strengthen the State’s Pecuniary Interest Register for Members of Parliament, as identified by the Auditor-General, by extending the disclosure of interests to immediate family, including spouses and dependent children, in line with other States.”

“The implementation of these recommendations will go some way towards addressing the very serious concern of perceptions of potential conflict of interest which have so far plagued this issue of the awarding of contracts.”

Mr Morris also said that the Auditor-General’s recommendations in relation to the Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources, and the Brighton and George Town Councils should be applied across the board to all government departments and local councils.

“Not only should the two recommendations regarding DIER improving the transparency of their value management register and approval of engagements be implemented, but they should also be applied to the contractual practices of all government departments.”

“Similarly, the two recommendations addressing the Brighton and George Town Councils’ respective engagement and formal record keeping practices should also be applied across all local councils.”

Mr Morris reiterated that at no time had the Greens alleged that the Premier or anyone else had done anything illegal, but had questioned the perception of possible conflict of interest due to the lack of diligent disclosure and transparency regarding the awarding of contracts.

“Lets be clear about this, the Premier choosing to not apply rigorous disclosure requirements to his own situation as Minister responsible of Departments with whom a family member’s company was negotiating contracts, created the situation where questions were rightfully raised.”

“The Premier must accept that the perception of possible conflict of interest is serious, and it is his responsibility to ensure that such concerns do not arise, not by covering things up or intimidating people from asking questions but by disclosing up front any family or personal connections while negotiations are underway.”

“It is not sufficient to merely implement the letter of the law, or the letter of the Ministerial Code of Conduct but to also apply the spirit of those disclosure mechanisms, and that is the challenge facing the Premier and his Ministers,” Mr Morris said.

And the Libs:

Media Release

Shadow Attorney General

MICHAEL HODGMAN, QC MHA

Wednesday May 31, 2006

Disclosure laws can be improved: Auditor General

The Premier must commit to strengthening Tasmania’s disclosure of interests laws, which the Auditor General has found could be improved.

Today’s report into contracts awarded by government entities and councils to a company part-owned by the Premier’s brother highlights a number of concerns.

While the Auditor General, Mike Blake, has found the Premier did not breach legislation or the government’s code of conduct, he said that the Premier could have made a discretionary disclosure about his brother’s interest in Global Value Management on his pecuniary interest register, but did not.

“This raises the question of whether it is now appropriate that disclosures relating to family matters be of a discretionary nature. In my view, it is not, and legislation should be strengthened to ensure there can be no conflicts of interest, or perceived conflicts of interest, relating to close family relatives of Tasmanian MPs into the future,” Shadow Attorney General, Michael Hodgman QC, said.

Strengthened disclosure laws could include siblings as well as spouses to ensure utmost integrity in Tasmanian disclosure laws in the wake of the GVM furore. Mr Hodgman said the Auditor General’s recommendation that strengthened arrangements only cover spouses and children would not have avoided the GVM controversy.

“Once again, this is an issue of transparency.”

Mr Hodgman urged the State Government to immediately commit to adopting the other Auditor General’s recommendations, which had they previously been in place, may have avoided the GVM controversy.

These include ensuring that expressions of interest for pre-qualification to the DIER value management register are undertaken every two years, and the need for the department to formally approve engagements where it is the sponsoring agency.

Other perceptions:
Good morning Mr Lennon
It’s a conspiracy