Parliamentary catering fraud not reported to police, Senate hears

A SUSPECTED fraud by a parliamentary caterer that used taxpayer resources to run a side-business was not reported to police.

DEPARTMENT of Parliamentary Services secretary Carol Mills has conceded she failed to notify police about suspected fraud by a catering contractor that used taxpayer resources to run a side-business.

At a Senate estimates hearing today, Liberal senator Bill Heffernan grilled Ms Mills over allegations that W Catering was “cooking here (in parliament) and taking the tucker out to other events”.

The scandal forced the DPS to cancel the contract in 2010 and sign “generous” new terms with another caterer, IHG, to manage parliament’s Staff Dining Room and Queen’s Terrace Cafe.

The department commissioned an independent report which “concluded there was likely to be inappropriate practice” although “there was insufficient evidence to take it further”, Ms Mills said.

Senator Heffernan asked: “But under the Crimes Act, and the crime of misprision felony, you don’t have to prove it. You just have to have a reasonable suspicion and then take it to the reporting authorities which in this case would have been the Australian Federal Police. Did anyone take it to the Australian Federal Police?

“No. Look, on the basis of the report,” Ms Mills began, before the senator cut her off: “Thank you.”

Senator Heffernan added: “You will provide on notice to the committee the cost of the clean-up of that mismanagement in terms of, shall I say, generosity from DPS to try and get someone to take the work on.”

Ms Mills said the IHG contract was “unusual and rather non-commercial”. That is because the company stepped in at short notice to fill the contract, and received favourable terms when the agreement was formalised.