Tasmania’s Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary Greg Johannes quits

THE state’s most powerful public servant, Greg Johannes, is adamant he made his own decision to resign despite his department coming under intense recent scrutiny.

Greg Johannes has resigned as secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet in Tasmania.

THE state’s most powerful public servant, Greg Johannes, is adamant he made his own decision to resign despite his department coming under intense recent scrutiny.

Mr Johannes, the secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, quit the post yesterday following a week of questions over recruitment processes.

It came after the Auditor-General expressed serious concerns in a report released on Tuesday.

The Mercury revealed this week that a senior DPAC bureaucrat had been forced to take leave while the recruitment and promotion of a woman to the department was investigated.

The two were allegedly in a romantic relationship.

There is no suggestion the staff member involved was Mr Johannes.

“It’s time to give someone else the opportunity to lead in a challenging environment, and to take the department into the intense program of work associated with the lead-up to the election, caretaker period, and support for an incoming government,” Mr Johannes wrote to staff in a farewell email.

“You can be confident that I am going at a time of my own choosing, because I feel the time is right.”

Revelations from Auditor-General Rod Whitehead that conflicts of interest were not declared in the recruitment of several staff in 2015-16 prompted Premier Will Hodgman to demand that “best practice” be immediately adopted by DPAC.

Mr Hodgman described Mr Johannes’ departure as disappointing and thanked him for his 3½-half years at the helm.

“Mr Johannes provided crucial support for the historic visit of the Chinese President in 2014, and has led a number of important reforms within the State Service, most notably in developing and implementing our nation-leading approach to reducing family violence,” he said.

The State Government has lost a series of key public servants in the wake of nepotism allegations.

Former Tasmanian Health Organisation southern chief Jane Holden was sacked in 2014, soon after the release of an Integrity Commission report into the health system.

Ms Holden rejected claims of nepotism, conflict of interest and improper process in the awarding of contracts to associates and her husband.

TasTAFE chief executive Stephen Conway and deputy Lori Hocking resigned this year after the Integrity Commission released a report detailing allegations of nepotism and the misuse of State Government credit cards.

The Department of Premier and Cabinet is the central agency managing the machinery of the State Government.

Department of Education secretary Jenny Gale will take on the DPAC role in an acting capacity, the first woman to lead the public service in more than a decade.

Opposition Leader Rebecca White paid tribute to Mr Johaness, but pledged a Labor government would end questionable recruitment processes within the public service.