The Border Force Boss Has Been Paid $500,000 While On Leave For Allegedly Dodgy Behaviour
Half a million to do nothing for nine months.
If you thought Barnaby Joyce’s resignation was the end of news about powerful men getting paid heaps of money while under scrutiny for dodgy behaviour, think again. It turns out, Australian Border Force Commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg has been paid around $500,000 (so far!) while on leave during an inquiry into his personal conduct.
The investigation into Quaedvlieg began in May last year in response to allegations that he had abused his power by helping his girlfriend get a job at Sydney Airport. Quaedvlieg has denied this.
But while an investigation into the potential abuse of power has dragged on, he’s been on an extremely cushy holiday. He’s earned more in nine months of doing fuck all than many of us can hope to earn in a decade of actual work.
– Quaedvlieg put on leave in May after his girlfriend gets a job in the dept.
– ACLEI reports back late last year.
– Martin Parkinson investigates whether to sack him, reports in December
– Q responds in January
– AG gets report on Feb 5.
– Quaedvlieg paid $500k in the meantime— Josh Taylor (@joshgnosis) February 26, 2018
As for why the investigation has taken nine months, that’s a really good question.
Department of Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo admitted in a Senate Estimates committee yesterday that the independent investigation into Quaedvlieg’s behaviour handed its report to the Government before the end of September last year.
That means Quaedvlieg has been on his extremely high-paid leave for at least three months, maybe more, since the government had the information it needed to either return him to work or fire him.
Part of the delay seems to be that instead of acting on the report directly, the Department of Home Affairs passed responsibility for the report to the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet, apparently because the Department of Home Affairs…works too closely…with the guy it’s meant to be responsible for?
After a ten month investigation into the corruption of a known relationship with a junior staffer & an unprecedented remuneration package, it is a big ask for Australian public to accept Roman Quaedvlieg back into the role of our most senior International policeman. #auspol
— Sandra K Eckersley? (@SandraEckersley) February 26, 2018
Anyway, the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet has now passed the hot potato report to the Attorney General, so we should have a decision made any minute now. Then again, we should have had a decision quite a while ago.
Must be nice to be a man in power. As Penny Wong pointed out yesterday, “cleaners in Parliament House don’t get this kind of treatment, do they?”.