DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITIES — PAUL WHYTE —MEMBER FOR VICTORIA PARK'S
COMMENTS
1552. Hon TJORN SIBMA to the Leader of the House
representing the Minister for Community Services:
I refer to corruption
allegations made against Mr Paul Whyte, lately of the Department of
Communities, the concerns the current Treasurer had about Mr Whyte back
in 2016 and the minister's answer given on 28 November 2019 that ''I
accepted Mr Searle's advice on this occasion'', regarding the
period Mr Whyte acted as the department's director general.
(1) Was the
minister aware of the concerns the Treasurer had about Mr Whyte at the time she
accepted Mr Searle's advice?
(2) If so, why did she accept the advice of Mr Searle?
Hon SUE ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the
question.
(1)–(2)
The now Treasurer in opposition raised
concerns for the former Liberal–National government to investigate.
Given the former Liberal–National government trusted Mr Whyte to
provide the formal response to the concerns raised by the Public Accounts
Committee, it was assumed that the former Liberal–National government
had examined the matters raised. If the honourable member has information to
the contrary, I would welcome him sharing it.