Animal advocates have welcomed the news that a Public Accounts Committee is to investigate the financial position of RSPCA Tasmania, but believe that the initiative, supported by all three parties, does not go far enough. They believe that in order for the investigation to have much-needed integrity, the board, down to just three members, must be dismissed and an administrator appointed to take over the affairs of the continually troubled organisation.
Suzanne Cass, from Stop Tasmanian Animal Cruelty explains:
‘We believe that an investigation such as this is, in and of itself, an investigation into the conduct of the board, now down to just three members, and the CEO, Ben Sturges, who was both appointed and dismissed in questionable circumstances. We were surprised to see members of all three political parties praising Mr Sturges, who, along with the board, have engaged in the sort of spending on people, not animals, that we have seen in the Annual Report and Financial Statements’.
Ben Sturges is the son of sitting ALP Member for Denison, Graeme Sturges, who was removed from the board at the 2010 AGM, and Ms Cass believes that there is an inherent conflict in the investigation for that reason.
‘Mr Green, Mr Rockliff and Ms O’Connor commended Mr Sturges for his ‘performance’ as CEO’, she continued. ‘But how hard can it be to get more taxpayer funds out of the government when that close relationship exists? Let’s not forget that this is not their money, but that of the community, that has been spent, not on animals, but on people.
‘Our most pressing concern is for the animals who have been so sadly neglected,’ Ms Cass said. ‘It is critical that that no more government funds are handed over into the control of this board so it can do more of the same in spending such extraordinary amounts on corporate self-indulgence and damage control. It would be absolutely appropriate for an administrator to be appointed to ensure that no more taxpayer dollars and community donations and bequests are being spent in the same way. We also don’t have any confidence in assurances which may be provided by the national RSPCA in this regard, since firstly it has no understanding of the local context and secondly, the Tasmanian branch was encouraged to follow the national paradigm of large administrative bureaucracies by these people in the time that the ACT CEO, Michael Linke was acting in the position here (also at an undisclosed cost) – and these appalling circumstances are the result of that’.
Ms Cass believes that all shelter operations in the state, including a re-opened cat shelter in the north west, should be handed to Dogs’ Homes of Tasmania, using all the funding and resources currently handed over, apparently with no accountability, to the RSPCA, that the animal welfare portfolio must be removed from DPIW and given to the Department of Justice, and the inspectorate functions and the resources that go with it to a dedicated unit of Tasmania Police, which would not be compromised by, or beholden to, relationships with primary industries
Ms Cass believes that if the three remaining members of the board had any sense of integrity and dignity, they would step down voluntarily, at least until such time as this investigation, and any investigation into their governance being undertaken by the Department of Fair Trading, are concluded.
• Petition – dismissal of RSPCA Tasmania board: HERE
