Lara likes all her presents

The two most recent annual listings of gifts given to members of the Tasmanian government reveal that Lara Giddings has yet to receive a gift given to her alone as a Minister that she didn’t like.

Since April 2009 Giddings has been given a sterling silver padlock bracelet by the Bridgewater/Gagebrook Community Centre, a box set of CDs from the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (TSO), a red woollen felt scarf from Rebecca’s of Battery Point, a red leather handbag from Xtras Direct Shoreline Shopping Centre and a black leather satchel from Roads Australia, a transport industry lobby group.

The five gifts, valued at a total of $830, have all been kept for personal use by Giddings, as allowed under the Department of Premier and Cabinet’s
guidelines on the Receipt and Giving of Gifts and Benefits. Under the guidelines, a member may apply to the Premier to retain for personal use all gifts with a wholesale value of less than $500.

In April 2009 Giddings, along with all other Ministers of the government, were given a 2008 Premiership Guernsey valued at $350. The gifts register indicates that Bartlett determined that all the guernseys given to Ministers were “to be donated to organisation of recipients choice.”

Between March 2009 and September 2010, no other Labor or Greens Minister has retained such a high proportion of gifts they were given as Ministers as Giddings has.

Bartlett kept two mother of pearl trinket boxes from the Korean Embassy and a pearl photo frame and pen from NEC Corporation. However, eight other gifts given to Bartlett were either retained by the Crown or given away to other organisations. Former Treasurer Michael Aird kept a $110 bottle of champagne from the Australian Institute of Management, a set of TSO CDs and a book from Tas Racing. Two other gits to Aird, a print of an albatross and another of sharks and rays of Australia, were turned over to the Crown but kept on display in his office.

Of the 27 gifts entered on the register from March 2009 through to September 2010, Hawthorn Football Club was the most frequent gift giver. Aside from the guernseys sent to each Minister in April 2009, the football club gave copies of a history of the club to both Bartlett and the Greens leader, Nick McKim. Bartlett gave the book to the Crown but retained it for display in his office while McKim donated his to an organisation of his choice. In June 2010 the club also gave Bartlett a signed guernsey, which he donated to a fundraising event for the Hobart Chargers basketball team.

Hawthorn is currently the beneficiary of a five-year $3.375 million a year funding deal with the Tasmanian Government.

Premier Lara Giddings

Tasmania’s ethics standards lag

The current version of the Tasmanian government guidelines on gifts, which was updated in 2006, set far higher thresholds for gifts which can be retained by the recipient than some other states. For example, the New South Wales Department of Premier and Cabinet’s June 2008 policy states that “gifts of a value greater than $50 must not become personal property. They should be either politely refused or become the property of the Department and the donor advised accordingly.”

The department also cautions that “the receipt of gifts and benefits can compromise employees in that they may be perceived to be unable to make unbiased decisions in the future with respect to the person or organisation that was the source of the gift or benefit.”

The Queensland Public Service Commission guideline on gifts states that “if the public service employee is in a position to provide advice or make decisions about (but not limited to) granting licences, inspecting and regulating businesses or giving approvals, it is more likely that the gift would be perceived as inappropriate.” It also states that, unless the agency has a policy to the contrary, “disposal of gifts to individuals is not allowed.”

The Queensland government’s Ministerial Handbook states that gifts cannot be accepted if they have a retail value of a retail value of over $350.

The Commonwealth Standards of Ministerial Ethics adopted by Julia Gillard do not specify a value threshold for gifts but state that Ministers may “accept customary official gifts, hospitality, tokens of appreciation, and similar formal gestures in accordance with the relevant guidelines, but must not seek or encourage any form of gift in their personal capacity.”

It also states that “Ministers must not seek or accept any kind of benefit or other valuable consideration either for themselves or for others in connection with performing or not performing any element of their official duties as a Minister.”

Now that she is Premier, Lara Giddings has the power to determine whether other Cabinet members who want to keep gifts for their own personal use can or not. Given the significant budget cuts that Giddings has foreshadowed, the appearance of Cabinet members keeping any items for personal use is likely to be controversial. Nor is lowering the threshold to be on a par with those used in other states likely to address the disquiet over already well paid Ministers collecting gifts for personal use. When the then Premier David Bartlett outlined his Ten Point Plan to Strengthen Trust in Tasmania’s government in August 2009, he promised “a strengthened code of conduct for ministers.” However, his announcement made no specific mention of tightening up the guideline on the Receipt and Giving of Gifts and Benefits.