Axed Border Force boss Roman Quaedvlieg ‘hid girlfriend’

Sacked Border chief Roman Quaedvlieg defends sending thousands of texts as Peter Dutton accuses him of ‘misbehaviour’.

Sacked Border Force chief Roman Quaedvlieg.

UPDATED: Sacked Border Force chief Roman Quaedvlieg modified internal policies to get his girlfriend a job, concealed his relationship with her from his bosses, broke his oath as commissioner and “wilfully or recklessly’’ misled his own minister.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton laid out a scathing indictment of Mr Quaedvlieg who, before his sacking from his $618,000 a year job by Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove yesterday, was one of the country’s most senior national security officials.

Mr Dutton said Mr Quaedvlieg had engaged in “misbehaviour’’ in helping secure his girlfriend a job at Sydney Airport and had wilfully failed to disclose the relationship as he was ­required to.

“With respect to the grounds of misbehaviour and conduct inconsistent with his affirmation, Mr Quaedvlieg acted at particular times to modify policies relevant to recruitment processes so as to advantage, at least in substantive part, a particular candidate for ABF employment,’’ Mr Dutton said in a statement tabled in parliament.

“Additionally, he engaged in acts, and made omissions, which materially advantaged that candidate over other candidates for ABF employment, and on that basis his conduct also amounted to misbehaviour and was inconsistent with his affirmation.’’

Mr Quaedvlieg failed to inform the Australian Government Security Vetting Agency of his new relationship and “wilfully or recklessly’’ made a false statement about the relationship to his minister, Mr Dutton, about it.

Despite that, Mr Dutton, who was close to Mr Quaedvlieg, ­described his sacking as ­‘‘extremely unfortunate’’.

 

“He has provided long and conspicuous public service in the critically important areas of law enforcement and national security,’’ he said. “However, the relevant conduct went beyond an isolated error of judgment and ultimately undermined his ­capacity to continue as ABF Commissioner’’.

The extraordinary statement ends a drawn-out, convoluted — and expensive — 10-month ­investigation into Mr Quaedvlieg conducted by the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity and the secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Martin Parkinson.

Throughout, Mr Quaedvlieg maintained his innocence and yesterday he gave his strongest hint yet he would sue over the findings of the Parkinson report and his subsequent termination.

Mr Quaedvlieg said he was not notified of his sacking until 2.55pm yesterday, nor had he been given a copy of Mr Dutton’s statement outlining the reasons before it was tabled in the parliament. “I have consistently maintained my strong denial of those particularised grounds over the lengthy duration of this inquiry and I continue to maintain those denials,’’ Mr Quaedvlieg said in a media statement.

“I had been given a short ­opportunity to resign prior to ­termination, however I chose not to do that as it is tantamount to a concession of culpability, which I strenuously deny.’’

Mr Quaedvlieg said he had made several ‘‘observations’’ about the inquiry process and would ‘‘pursue these more formally in the relevant forums’’. “I will now take some time to fully consider my options,’’ he said.

Mr Quaedvlieg exchanged about 14,000 text messages with his girlfriend, who staff believed was his goddaughter, The Courier-Mail reported last night.

He issued a fresh statement this morning, defending his mobile phone use.

“Most senior public servants use messaging applications as an essential component of their job. I personally send and receive tens of thousands of messages across various platforms over any given year as part of my official duties,” the statement read.

“Officials are also entitled to use their official devices for reasonable private use in recognition that their public lives often consume significant portions of their time and they, like most people, have a need or want to communicate with loved ones, or to conduct minor private household transactions while engaged in work duties.

“I have never had a verified total number, or a breakdown of messages sent and/or received, put to me as part of this investigation, nor does it form any part of the grounds for my termination as tabled in parliament yesterday.”

Mr Quaedvlieg’s sacking ends a remarkable law enforcement career that began in Queensland during the 1980s at the sharp end of operational policing and ended at the lofty heights of the commonwealth public service.

Mr Quaedvlieg began his ­career working as a deep cover ­operative infiltrating crime syndicates and then later as a surveillance officer. He moved to the Australian Crime Commission in the early 2000s, where he was embroiled in controversy following the sacking of several ­officers.

From there Mr Quaedvlieg ­segued into the Australian Federal Police, where he worked briefly as commissioner Mick Keelty’s chief of staff before taking on a number of senior operational roles, including ACT Policing chief commissioner, before becoming the first ­Border Force Commissioner in July 2015.