Questions on notice outstanding for DPS Secretary Rob Stefanic

Department of Parliamentary Services Secretary Rob Stefanic (right) and his former deputy secretary Cate Saunders

Further intrigue out of the Department of Parliamentary Services over that romance between Secretary Rob Stefanic and his former deputy secretary Cate Saunders, who left the public service last year – and with what we hear was a generous exit package.

DPS has been silent for days on whether or not it’s investigating the circumstances of that package, known internally as an incentive to retire payment.

The issue is whether or not it was signed off by Stefanic himself, and whether or not their relationship had been declared by then.

In the meantime, another curiosity. Stefanic was questioned by Senator Jane Hume at an estimates hearing in February about Saunders’ departure.

He took two of those questions on notice, both concerning her sudden secondment to Services Australia in April last year, which is where her career with the commonwealth ended.

Stefanic also took a slew of other questions on notice during his appearance at estimates that day, all of which have been answered in full and are now available for perusal on the parliament’s website.

Stefanic’s department actually manages the system that organises and displays those answers, which is convenient.

And so isn’t it just darn strange that out of all the questions that have been answered and uploaded to the website, the only ones missing are those pertaining to the exit of Saunders?

Not that we’d dare to peddle in conspiracies, but the silence of the department, and these other crumbs we’re picking up … they might just be starting to form a trail.

Charity disclosures

The Grace Tame Foundation declared in April that it had spent nearly half of all donations received during FY23 on paying out legal fees for abuse survivors – a total of $107,033.

If that revelation came as a surprise it’s only because the foundation has never told benefactors, or anyone, that donated funds might end up being used for the purpose of paying ­lawyers.

There’s no mention of it anywhere on the foundation’s website, nor is it declared in filings with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. Both are unequivocal about the charity’s primary concern: funding legislative reform ­campaigns.

We’ve said before that donors might not mind knowing their money is being used to help survivors in this way.

The problem with the arrangement, however, is not only that it’s undisclosed but also with who exactly is receiving the money. What we’ve established is that every dollar spent by the Foundation on legal fees in FY23 found its way to Marque Lawyers, whose managing director, Michael Bradley, sits on the foundation board.

Not only is this a perceivable conflict of interest on its face, but even the foundation itself has conceded to Margin Call that it erred by never disclosing the payments in its financial ­reporting.

Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame with Michael Bradle. Picture: Brendan Radke

“A note should have been included with the foundation’s 2023 accounts disclosing the payments to Marque Lawyers,” said general manager Chantelle Tibbotts. “That is being rectified by the accountants responsible for preparing and lodging the foundation’s accounts.”

You don’t say! Bradley declined to comment when contacted, referring us to the foundation’s statement, which said 58 survivors had been referred to Marque Lawyers in FY23, the work conducted tallying to a commercial value “in excess of $350,000”.

In other words, the help was provided at a discounted rate.

This is admirable, worthy, but it misses the point.

What’s clear is that Bradley is gaining work from his role with the charity.

For the sake of good governance, the foundation might want to consider using another firm – or if Marque Lawyers are so talented, then switching Bradley out for another director.

And those payments are only for FY23, by the way.

We don’t know what’s been paid to Marque Lawyers during FY24, which still has another two months to run – nor will we know that figure until at least January of 2025, when a date has been set for the foundation to lodge its FY24 accounts.

And given its untidy habit of filing months late, the more likely result is that the figures will only lob some time in April, as they have for the past two years.

Gill’s on board

Gillon McLachlan’s becoming famous for turning down lucrative job offerings served up on a bed of lettuce. Since leaving the AFL last year he’s said no to the CEO role at Tabcorp and turned down a $10m gig offered by the Saudis – although we do expect him to be announced as chair of Racing Victoria imminently, having been interviewed for that role on Monday.

One gig he has definitely accepted, however, is an invitation from his VC footy mate and Seek co-founder Paul Bassat to join the board of a fledgling not-for-profit that’s been given charity status by the regulator.

Former AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan. Picture: David Crosling

At least 14 business names have been registered for this entity, all based around the name “Amplify”. Not much by way of detail on what it does yet, but on paper it’s called Apollo Research and involves Bassat’s 28-year-old son, Joel, who’s looking at gearing this play towards some type of political reform. A bit of star power on the journey with him, too. Fellow directors are Kate Pounder, former CEO of the Technology Council of Australia, Zara Seidler, co-founder of The Daily Aus, River Capital co-founder Suzi Carp and musician Rona Glynn-McDonald.