Government departments fattening pockets of former public servants — including an ex-premier
PUBLIC departments are paying hundreds of millions of dollars to private companies for “consulting” services with payment recipients often former high-ranking public servants and even ex-politicians.
NSW
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GOVERNMENT departments are handing out hundreds of millions of dollars to private companies in a secretive gravy train often fattening the pockets of high-ranking former public servants — including an ex-premier and director-generals.
In one case, a former fat cat was paid $75,000 for one month’s work less than a year after he left the same department as part of cost-cutting.
In another example, former NSW premier Barry O’Farrell was paid $52,500 by the Department of Social Services for “strategic advice and review services”. It was for four months work and the department refused to say why it couldn’t be done in-house.
A special investigation into every consultancy contract across our 15 biggest federal departments during the past financial year calls into question how so much of our money can change hands without even the most basic public accountability.
The expose uncovered several instances of departments handing out tens of thousands to former bosses for just a few months’ work. And the boards of many companies that routinely win lucrative contracts are stacked with former public servants.
The Daily Telegraph is not suggesting any wrongdoing by the consultants concerned. But what is concerning is how the departments refuse to answer simple questions or publicly release the work taxpayers’ are paying for.
And nearly all refused to explain why the work couldn’t simply be done in-house.
Many departments refused to answer any questions, with some telling this newspaper to use freedom of information laws if we wanted more information than the “short descriptions” available on the AusTender website.
These vague descriptions include nothing more than a time frame, the consultant’s name and generic titles for contracts, such as “strategic advice” or “review services”.
There is also nothing forcing departments to release information for contracts worth less than $10,000.
This allows departments to annually award stacks of tenders without any public record whatsoever. The Daily Telegraph can today reveal shocking details as part of a push for greater transparency.
In one case, the Defence Department paid David Gould $75,000 for just one month’s work less than 12 months after he left a job heading the department’s controversial submarines division. The one-month consultancy, won in March 2016, was for “management and advisory services” as “skills (are) currently unavailable within agency”.
It can also be revealed that national wind farm commissioner Andrew Dyer scored his plum role via a consultancy worth $676,500 registered to Collins Street Managment, where he is the sole director. His annual fee was reported as $205,000, but it can now be revealed taxpayers’ will be slugged $61,500 for GST too. The Department of Attorney-General paid former NSW director-general Laurence Geoffrey Glanfield $83,744 for “independent review services”. The money was for less than four months of work. The department wouldn’t elaborate on what the “review services” were.
In another case, the Health Department paid former WA Health director-general Peter Flett $61,600 to “facilitate NPAAC (National Pathology Accreditation Advisory Council) drafting supervision standards”. Dr Flett, who controversially quit the WA health system in 2009, only worked for four months too.
Former Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Ian Watt was paid $21,198 for “business intelligence consulting services” as part of a national security review. The money came from the DPMC. The consultancy was for just two months. Watt was DPMC secretary from September 2011 to November 2014.
Ernst & Young won mega-contracts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars across several departments during the 2015-16 financial year.
In February 2014, it announced Andrew Metcalfe was joining the firm after “a distinguished career in the Australian Public Service”.
This included being Department of Immigration secretary and Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet deputy secretary.
Meanwhile, the Department of Communications spent $37,999.90 so a company called Watermark Search International could “identify potential candidates for the Australia Post board”.
Australia Post was recently in the spotlight after it was revealed its former head, Ahmed Fahour, was receiving a $5.6 million salary.
NSW Senator Sam Dastyari last night said this “secret society” had to change. “Every dollar wasted is a dollar not going to hospitals, schools and the services people rely on.
“The public has a right to know and the government has done everything possible to make the system complicated so no one can get to the bottom of it. Frankly, it’s time the Senate holds the government departments to account ... all options should be on the table,” he said.
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