Page 3275 - Week 10 - Thursday, 25 August 2005
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know that this bill arises as a result of the debacle that is now commonly referred to as the Tonkin affair. Indeed, this bill should be titled the Rob Tonkin memorial bill. Some members may have forgotten the events that led up to the Tonkin debacle, so I will recap on the benchmark the government has set in being opaque, unaccountable and unfair in its decision making.
By late 2003, the Chief Minister and the chief executive of the Chief Minister’s Department, Mr Robert Tonkin, in the words of the Chief Minister himself, no longer could see eye to eye. There is no question that Mr Tonkin’s performance was up to scratch, as Mr Stanhope told us in the Assembly earlier this year, “Mr Tonkin is a very senior, very experienced and extremely good public servant.” Nonetheless, the relationship between the two had become so poisonous that Mr Stanhope sought a method by which he could rid himself of this turbulent chief executive.
So, in November 2003, the Chief Minister announced that Mr Robert Tonkin, the chief executive of the Chief Minister’s Department, was to be seconded to the commonwealth Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to “lead the secretariat for the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) national bushfire inquiry”. The announcement made it clear that Mr Tonkin would be departing permanently, as it noted that Mike Harris would be acting in the position pending permanent filling. So much for secondment! Mr Tonkin, despite being on secondment to the commonwealth government, continued to receive his full salary as a senior executive level 3.12 in the ACT public service.
Jumping forward to February 2004, the Chief Minister made a notifiable instrument—NI2004-34, Administrative Arrangements 2004 No 1—the sole purpose of which was to provide for the creation of the Office of Special Adviser, Council of Australian Governments and Inter-governmental Relations, as a new administrative unit under the Chief Minister’s portfolio. The role of chief executive in this new instrumentality fell to the special adviser. While it was not stated in the instrument, the special adviser was, of course, Mr Tonkin.
In March 2004, Mr Tonkin and the Chief Minister signed a schedule D variation to Mr Tonkin’s contract that reassigned him to the position of special adviser to the Council of Australian Governments and Inter-governmental Relations. Then, in April 2004, the Treasurer made a disallowable instrument—DI2004-56, Financial Management Amendment Guideline 2004 No 1—which inserted a new section 24A in the Financial Management Guidelines 2002. This new section prescribes as a department the Chief Minister’s Department and Office of Special Adviser, Council of Australian Governments and Inter-governmental Relations. The purpose of this amendment to the guidelines appears to have been to circumvent the need for the Office of Special Adviser to produce a full annual report.
In September 2004, a transmittal letter on Chief Minister’s Department letterhead and signed by Mr Tonkin appeared as an annexed report in the Chief Minister’s Department’s annual report for 2003-04. A half-page account of Mr Tonkin’s activities followed. Then, in February 2005, the opposition discovered the rort and referred it to the Auditor-General for investigation. In May 2005, the Auditor-General reported, finding amongst other things:
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