Last nighttime the Australian National Audit Office gave grounds astatine Senate estimates. Labor and Greens senators focused connected car parkland rorts and Liberal senators asked astir the ANAO’s telephone not to analyse the ABC for paying Louise Milligan’s ineligible costs successful the Andrew Lamingdefamation matter.
Auditor general, Grant Hehir, said determination were nary documents mounting retired the ABC’s rationale for the decision, truthful the ANAO could lone justice disconnected grounds astir a fig of meetings held betwixt in-house counsel and the managing director.
The ABC had explained they paid Milligan’s costs due to the fact that of fears of vicarious liability for Milligan and the narration betwixt the Laming substance and different defamation case.
Hehir criticised the deficiency of documentation:
“Normally you’d person an anticipation that they would papers those decisions, gathering the costs of an worker that’s thing you’d expect to spot ...It’s hard for america to accidental that [whether it was appropriate] without grounds 1 mode oregon the other. Not being capable to signifier an sentiment is simply a reasonably beardown connection from that perspective.”
On car parkland rorts, the ANAO’s Brian Boyd set retired that successful mid-September 2018 the curate for municipality infrastructure, Alan Tudge, asked his unit to conscionable with with MPs from six named marginals, and that this canvassing process was expanded to a database archetypal of 20 marginals, and past yet 29 by April 2019, soon earlier the election.
Boyd said that, dissimilar sports grants, determination was nary maestro spreadsheet of projects, the papers was a tracking papers oregon to-do database to cheque that Liberal MPs, candidates oregon work senators were consulted astir each electorate.
Greens senator, Janet Rice, asked for much item astir the documents, noting that the existent minister, Paul Fletcher, has knocked backmost a Senate bid for accumulation of documents claiming helium doesn’t person them oregon they don’t exist.
Hehir said helium was “uncomfortable” giving much item than was successful the ANAO study without the curate contiguous to assertion nationalist involvement immunity implicit it, and took the questions connected notice.