No trace of 457 evidence found

THEY have searched high and low. There have been exhaustive checks of Julia Gillard's office and questioning of staff.

John McTernan

THEY have searched high and low. There have been exhaustive checks of Julia Gillard's office and questioning of staff. Now, after four months and a curt reminder from the Office of the Information Commissioner, the truth about the hiring of Scottish spin doctor John McTernan by the former prime minister is both obvious and elusive.

It fell to Fergus Smith, a senior adviser (legal and governance) in the Office of the Prime Minister, to report late yesterday that there is not a shred of documentary evidence to show Ms Gillard's office tried to find a suitable person in Australia before appointing Mr McTernan, on a 457 visa for foreigners, as her communications guru.

Mr Smith told The Weekend Australian: "I am satisfied that all reasonable steps have been taken to identify documents relevant to your (Freedom of Information) request and I am satisfied that no documents relevant to the request are in the possession of the Prime Minister."

In April, after Ms Gillard and cabinet ministers had been accused of trying to appease unions by raising exaggerated concerns about 457 visa rorting and pledging a crackdown on employers, The Australian used the FOI Act to seek "all documents relating to efforts taken to identify and employ a director of communications for the Prime Minister Julia Gillard".

These efforts would include all documents showing steps that could have been taken in finding a suitable Australian candidate, such as advertising and the engagement of employment agencies.

As Mr McTernan's arrival in Ms Gillard's office coincided with the availability of some of Australia's most senior journalists and communicators, who were being made redundant, it seemed inconceivable that a prime minister (and union leaders) would not have first tried to hire locally particularly as Ms Gillard's office would not ever want to be exposed to accusations that it would flout the 457 visa process to employ a Scotsman who had worked for British Labour leaders Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

The FOI request sought evidence of any direct contact, formal and informal, with media outlets or communications agencies or referees for potential Australian candidates.

It also sought all documents relating to consideration and adoption of the 457 visa process used to employ the ultimately successful candidate, Mr McTernan, now a part-time columnist for Sydney's Sunday Telegraph (owned by News Corp Australia, publisher of The Weekend Australian).

In his quest to find anything at all, Mr Smith said yesterday that office staff were reminded that possible sources may include computer and personal drives and emails, disks, CDs and other storage devices, office files, filing cabinets, desk and desk drawers, bookshelves and cupboards, safe, personal folders, notebooks, calendars and diaries, personal electronic notebooks, and offsite storage locations.

But not a single jotting from Ms Gillard's office was located. It is as if Mr McTernan's appointment happened without a nod to the 457 visa process that Ms Gillard and trade union leaders would subsequently condemn as a scheme easily rorted.

Mr McTernan has insisted that his visa application was "processed in strict accordance with the law".