Ex-Renewal SA boss John Hanlon tells parliament of ‘horrendous’ ICAC raid

A senior public servant has revealed how a raid on his home occurred in front of his family before corruption claims against him and a colleague collapsed.

Former Renewal SA boss John Hanlon has opened up about the moment ICAC officers raided his home and read him his rights in front of his family.

Mr Hanlon on Friday told a parliamentary inquiry the ordeal, on September 24, 2018, was “horrendous”.

“You have your home raided and you have your offices raided and you’ve got explain to your family,” he said.

“And you’re not allow to give them a heads up that ICAC are arriving at your home and you have to rush home and tell your wife and your children that ICAC officers are … there and they read you your rights in front of them.”

Mr Hanlon said his daughter was studying at the time “and she had material confiscated from her in relation to it, which … has amounted to nothing and it’s all been given back”.

A corruption case against Mr Hanlon and fellow public servant Georgina Vasilevski collapsed in June, with prosecutors conceding they had no evidence to prove offences alleged by ICAC.

At the parliamentary hearing, Mr Hanlon spoke of his family’s reaction when ICAC officers raided their home almost three years ago.

“I think for the family, they like everyone else, the first question they ask you is what have you done?” he said.

Former Renewal SA chief executive John Hanlon departs the Adelaide Magistrates Court last year. Picture: David Mariuz

“It’s very hard when you actually don’t know what you’ve done and you go ‘I don’t think I’ve done anything’.”

Mr Hanlon said he was under audio and visual surveillance for a number of months during the investigation and yet he “had no idea what I had done so it’s very hard to explain that to your family”.

“The secrecy of those investigations in themselves give you very little rights,” he said.

“As a person who has been accused of anything or … just simply investigated, everything shuts down.

“It’s not until these matters actually get to the point of you being charged that some things start to open up for you to get evidence via your legal representation.”

Mr Hanlon said “until then you’re very much kept in the dark”.

“You have no ability to ask questions, no ability to get information, no ability to defend yourself, and you’re warned constantly by ICAC that you cannot speak about this matter even to defend yourself,” he said.

The ICAC Act prohibits the disclosure of information relating to ICAC complaints, reports, assessments, investigations and referrals unless approved by the ICAC Commissioner.

People carrying out ICAC work, such as investigations and referrals, are permitted to disclose that information to facilitate the task.

Mr Hanlon was charged after an 18-month ICAC investigation with two counts of abuse of public office, three of deception, one of acting dishonestly and five of dishonestly dealing with documents.

Ms Vasilevski was charged with one count of abuse of public office and three of acting dishonestly.

Prosecutors alleged that in 2017 and 2018, Mr Hanlon improperly spent taxpayer money while on interstate and overseas trips, staying in luxury hotels and eating at top restaurants.

During this same period, it was alleged Ms Vasilevski wrongly billed taxpayers about $1000 for a trip to Melbourne.

However, on June 18 this year prosecutors conceded they could not prove beyond reasonable doubt that the pair did no official work on the trips and as such Magistrate Simon Smart found they had no case to answer. They had consistently denied the allegations.

“I can assure you I have never been corrupt or done anything that I thought was inappropriate, and certainly I don’t believe I’ve ever wasted government funds on anything,” Mr Hanlon told the parliamentary committee.

Originally published as Ex-Renewal SA boss John Hanlon tells parliament of ‘horrendous’ ICAC raid