Report slams government

Peter Wells Examiner
FORMER Premier Paul Lennon, a former Deputy Premier and two senior bureaucrats could face further investigation in the wake of a parliamentary committee’s report into the aborted appointment of Simon Cooper as a magistrate. An interim report from the committee – detailing its investigation into Mr Cooper’s non- appointment – was tabled in State Parliament yesterday and called for further investigation of Mr Lennon, former Deputy Premier Steve Kons, former secretary to the Department of Premier and Cabinet Linda Hornsey and Justice Department secretary Lisa Hutton.
The committee – headed by independent MLC Paul Harriss, and including fellow independents Terry Martin, Greg Hall and Jim Wilkinson – is pushing to refer testimony from the four key witnesses to the Legislative Council’s Privileges Committee. The inquiry found Mr Kons’s evidence was “inconsistent and unreliable” and he could not be “reasonably regarded as a credible witness”. Some testimony from Ms Hornsey and Mr Lennon was branded “inconsistent”, while parts of Ms Hutton’s testimony were described as “evasive, inconsistent, incoherent and otherwise unreliable”. The committee is urging the Privileges Committee to see if there was a breach of privilege or a contempt of Parliament. The Paul Harriss Committee found Ms Hornsey’s conduct in the Simon Cooper matter may have constituted a breach of the State Service Act. “Ms Hornsey had personal difficulties relating to the pulp mill assessment process in connection with Mr Simon Cooper,” the report said. Read more here

Sue Neales Mercury
THE conduct of Tasmanian Justice Department chief has been savagely criticised by a parliamentary committee. The Legislative Council Select Committee on Public Sector Executive Appointments, which is inquiring into senior legal and public service appointments, concluded yesterday that Lisa Hutton’s conduct constituted a serious breach of her duty to abide by state service principles and act “apolitically, impartially, ethically and professionally”. It also found Ms Hutton had “carefully crafted deliberately misleading briefs” for her then ministerial boss, attorney-general Steve Kons, and given evidence last year to the committee that was “evasive, inconsistent and unreliable”. The same report also slammed the conduct of former premier’s department head Linda Hornsey, who resigned from the Tasmanian public service in August 2007. It recommended that Premier David Bartlett immediately order acting State Service Commissioner Iain Frawley to oversee an independent investigation to determine whether Ms Hutton and Ms Hornsey had breached the State Service Code of Conduct. Former premier Paul Lennon and his deputy Steve Kons have also been called to appear before the powerful parliamentary privileges committee for possible contempt of parliament. Read more here

ABC Online
A Tasmanian Parliamentary committee has handed down a damning report about the process used to appoint a magistrate in 2007. The Legislative Council committee has tabled its interim report into senior government appointments. The committee has found that the 2007 appointment process did not follow the Department of Justice’s own policy. It has recommended legislative reform to provide more oversight of senior government appointments. It has also called on the State Government to make several apologies. It suggests they be made to the Magistrate appointed, Glenn Hay, and another candidate, Simon Cooper, for any hurt or embarrassment caused by the conduct of the former Attorney-General Steve Kons, and several staff. Read more here

Nick McKim:

BARTLETT MUST IMPLEMENT ALL INTERIM REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
If Serious About Restoring Public Trust in Tasmania’s Democracy
Nick McKim MP
Greens Leader
Tuesday, 7 April 2009

www.tas.greens.org.au
The Tasmanian Greens today welcomed the release of the Legislative Council Select Committee interim report into Public Sector Executive Appointments, saying that if Premier David Bartlett is serious about restoring public trust in Tasmania’s democracy he must accept and implement all of the report’s recommendations.

Greens Leader Nick McKim MP said that the report made it clear that Gunns Ltd’s pulp mill has resulted in a corruption of public processes in Tasmania, and called on Mr Bartlett to abandon his support for the project.

“Mr Bartlett has made much of his supposed intent to restore faith in his government, and anything less than a full implementation of this Committee’s recommendations would constitute a breach of trust to the Tasmanian people,” Mr McKim said.

“These recommendations are reasonable and founded on a careful assessment of fact. Mr Bartlett has no choice but to implement them in full.”

“Mr Bartlett was a senior Minister when these matters transpired, and he should accept a measure of responsibility for the serious breaches in process.”

“Specifically Mr Bartlett has no excuse not to implement the reports recommendations regarding investigating a potential breach of the Archives Act 1983, an Act for which he is responsible as Education Minister as well as recommendations pursuant to the State Service Act 2000.”

“The best thing that Mr Bartlett could do is implement the recommendations in full and walk away from the controversial pulp mill.”

“That is the only way he can restore public trust in our democracy,” Mr McKim concluded.