DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITIES
— PAUL WHYTE —MEMBER FOR VICTORIA PARK'S COMMENTS
1560. Hon MICHAEL MISCHIN to the minister representing the
Treasurer:
I refer to the Treasurer's
concerns and criticisms, when a member of the Public Accounts Committee,
levelled at Mr Paul Whyte.
(1) Were those expressed concerns
and criticisms genuinely held?
(2) If yes —
(a) what steps
did he take after entering government to ensure that they had been or would be
addressed; and, if none, why not;
(b) did he at
least express those concerns to Mr Whyte's minister; and, if not, why
not; and, if so, to whom, when and what did he say; and
(c) did he
express concerns to any of his ministerial colleagues about Mr Whyte's
suitability when he first learned of Mr Whyte's appointment as
assistant director general; and, if not, why not; and, if so, to whom, when and
what did he say?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1) Yes.
(2) The Treasurer's criticisms of Mr Whyte
made on 23 July 2016 were in relation to his failure to satisfactorily
answer questions put to him by the Public Accounts Committee. The same concerns
were expressed by the former Liberal member for Belmont, Glenys Godfrey. The
Treasurer specifically appealed to the responsible minister in the former
Liberal–National government to act in relation to this issue and was disappointed and somewhat surprised that the
former Liberal–National government responded by allowing Mr Whyte to write his own defence. Given that at
the time the honourable member was the Attorney General in the former
Liberal–National government and he was a former Crown prosecutor, he
may wish to reflect on the appropriateness of this action. The McGowan
government, through its machinery-of-government reforms, changed Mr Whyte's
reporting relationships. This assisted in bringing out the disturbing
allegations against Mr Whyte that have resulted in his dismissal by the McGowan
government.