The opposition has written to the Corruption and Crime Commission urging it to investigate allegations made by a former staffer for Deputy Premier Roger Cook that she helped fast-track hard border entry applications for Labor donors during the pandemic.
Former Labor electorate officer Sanja Spasojevic claimed from April to June 2020, Cook tasked her with fast-tracking G2G applications for people and their families involved in cash-for-access Labor business roundtables.
A former staffer of Deputy Premier and ex-health minister Roger Cook claims she was tasked with fast-tracking G2G applications for Labor donors and their families as the state’s hard borders went up in 2020.Credit: Getty Images
The allegations were made under oath during Spasojevic’s unfair dismissal hearing before the Public Service Appeal Board over her sacking in October 2020, after being accused of serious misconduct for taking unauthorised annual leave.
Opposition Leader Mia Davies said the claims were serious and needed to be investigated further.
“These allegations of preferential treatment of donors to the WA Labor Party are serious and warrant further investigation,” she said.
“The opposition will refer this matter to the Corruption and Crime Commissioner, Hon John McKechnie QC.
“Our letter to the commissioner is simply to say we think it warrants further investigation, given the nature of the allegations that have been made under oath in court.
“The opposition has simply observed that allegations of that nature can’t go uninvestigated and the appropriate place for them to be referred to is the CCC because it does involve government officials right to the top in terms of ministerial offices.”
Spasojevic’s duties came at a time when WA had both a hard border and intrastate borders, with anyone wishing to cross those borders requiring approval through the G2G system.
The system, managed by WA Police, was a source of intense criticism from users who were left frustrated with delays and multiple rejections.
“If these allegations are true, it would be a huge betrayal of trust for the many families who were separated and denied entry into Western Australia under the McGowan Labor government’s G2G system,” Davies said.
Spasojevic is fighting to get her job back in Cook’s office after she was sacked in 2020 for taking unauthorised leave and accused of serious misconduct.
She told the Public Service Appeal Board on Thursday she worked with a contact in former police minister Michelle Roberts’ office to help process G2G applications for members of the roundtable.
“Roger asked me to specifically take care of G2G applications for the Labor business roundtable members which were platinum, gold and silver,” Spasojevic said.
“They were to be fast-tracked and I had a ministerial contact in the police minister’s office.
“I was to contact her directly and have our business Labor roundtable members fast-tracked and their family members so they could come in and out of the state on business, so they wouldn’t be affected by what was going on with the pandemic.”
Labor’s roundtable gives businesspeople exclusive access to state cabinet ministers and is one of the party’s biggest money-spinners.
Memberships cost thousands and some tickets cost up to $10,000.
A WA Labor spokesman said the party categorically denied the “baseless allegations that are not backed by any evidence or fact whatsoever.”
A spokesman for Cook said it was appalling for the opposition to question the integrity of WA Police who managed the G2G system.
“Decisions on G2G applications during the COVID-19 pandemic were made independently by WA Police,” he said.
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