Bureaucrats raided following romance scandal
Written by admin on November 4, 2024
A senior official has confirmed the offices of bureaucrats who run Parliament House were raided by the National Anti-Corruption Commission months after revelations about their boss’s love life.
Department of Parliamentary Services acting secretary Jaala Hinchcliffe confirmed the raid while fronting senate estimates on Monday, where she was grilled on the goings on at her department, which has been marred by claims painting a toxic culture.
“I can confirm that the NACC executed warrants on the Department of Parliamentary Services,” she said.
“Any questions about this activity and any investigation that the NACC might be undertaking should be referred to the NACC as I am conscious that discussing matters may inadvertently identify persons of interests, prematurely damage reputations and/or compromise an individual’s right to impartial adjudication.”
Ms Hinchcliffe said she was informed of the raid the day before and did not reveal why the raid was carried out.
She was appearing before senators instead of DPS secretary Rob Stefanic, who went on indefinite leave in the days following the NACC action.
Earlier this year, it was revealed Mr Stefanic was in a romantic relationship with his former deputy secretary Cate Saunders. He has denied they were in a romantic relationship while they worked together.
Ms Saunders left the public service with an “incentive to retire” payment of about $315,000.
Ms Hinchcliffe said she ordered an independent probe into the payment after she received a complaint.
“I would like to advise that after concerns were raised with me by a DPS employee about whether the department had followed correct processes in making the incentive to retire payment, I engaged Dr Fiona Roughley SC to conduct an independent fact finding investigation into the department’s role in the incentive to retirement payment,” Ms Hinchcliffe said.
NewsWire has contacted the NACC for comment.
