WILL HODGMAN Leader of the State Opposition Thursday May 28, 2009

Premier’s deceit on Gadd contract exposed

NICK McKIM Greens Leader

Cabinet knew DEPHA to be abolished prior to Gadd cntract being finalised

Will Hodgman

· DEPHA abolition apparently discussed in Cabinet on May 4

· Premier signs instrument reappointing DEPHA Secretary the following day

· Premier’s deceit and cronyism revealed

The Premier today appears to have admitted he signed the instrument reappointing the Secretary of the Department of Environment, Parks, Heritage and Arts one day AFTER the department’s abolition was discussed in Cabinet.

Today’s revelations in Parliament show the Premier is a complete fraud on improving standards of governance. He’s no better than Paul Lennon who made an art form out of jobs for Labor mates.

It reinforces that that Tasmania is heading in the wrong direction under Labor and nothing will change unless we change the government.

It is an outrageous abuse of taxpayers’ funds to sign an Agency Head up to a new three year contract a day after discussing the abolition of his Department in Cabinet. In fact, the shifting language of the Premier indicates the abolition was actually discussed for some time before the May 4 Cabinet meeting.

This outrage is compounded by the fact that the Premier apparently ignored the recommendations of an Auditor-General’s inquiry into executive termination payouts in the process, as we revealed yesterday.

The Premier has brazenly misquoted the Solicitor-General to try to justify his actions in this sordid affair.

He shown contempt for Parliament, and accountability, by trying to avoid answering questions about the timing of the Scott Gadd re-appointment and discussions about the abolition of his department, for more than a week.

Mr Bartlett has been at pains to say the final decision to abolish DEPHA was made on 11 May – just a few days after the Instrument of appointment for Scott Gadd was signed.

But now he’s admitting that discussions were held before, including, it appears, at the Cabinet meeting on 4 May.

This is not just about a bunch of dates, it goes to the heart of due process and using taxpayers’ money.

It has been a terrible week for the Premier, who marked one year in office this week. But it’s been an even worse year for Tasmanians, who deserve so much better from their government.

Nick McKim

BARTLETT ACCIDENTAL ADMISSION THAT CABINET KNEW DEPHA TO BE ABOLISHED PRIOR TO GADD CONTRACT BEING FINALISED
Nick McKim MP
Greens Leader
Thursday, 28 May 2009

www.tas.greens.org.au
The Tasmanian Greens said that Premier David Bartlett’s accidental confirmation today that Cabinet had discussed the abolition of the Department of Environment, Parks, Heritage and the Arts (DEPHA) prior to the 11th of May meeting, which means that the Scott Gadd contract was signed in the full knowledge that the Department was going to be abolished.

Greens Leader Nick McKim MP said that this admission is a very serious matter, and leaves the Premier wide open over why he has exposed the taxpayer to serious financial liability by signing off on a three year contract instead of a short transitional one.

“What Mr Bartlett finally confirmed, albeit almost by mistake, is that Cabinet had discussed the potential abolition of DEPHA before the 11th of May meeting, presumably at the 4th of May Cabinet meeting but maybe even earlier, which is very significant given that the Premier signed the Scott Gadd contract on the 5th of May,” Mr McKim said.

“What we now know is that prior to the contract being finalised, Mr Bartlett and the entire Cabinet had discussed abolishing DEPHA, and therefore the whole of government knew this was underway before David Bartlett signed off on the three year contract.”

“This leaves Mr Bartlett wide open. Why did he sign off on a three year contract exposing the taxpayer to serious liability in the full knowledge that the department was to be abolished instead of renegotiating a transitional three or four month one?”

“The Solicitor-General’s advice makes it perfectly clear that the contract could have been renegotiated, and in fact it was renegotiated from being a five year contract to three years, but the significant economic liability that the Premier has signed up the Tasmanian taxpayer to, could have been avoided.”

“This was a whole of government decision made, without consulting a single member of that Department, and made before Mr Gadd’s contract was finalised.”

“This is incompetence, inexperience, or featherbedding, or all three.”