‘Several risks identified’: Auditor-General warns of threats to office’s independence due to funding pressures
The independence of the Northern Territory Auditor-General’s office has been identified as
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As if either the NTG ALP or CLP CM & MALA’s will change legislation for transparency & accountability, they all understand ambiguous rules allow dodgy grants, contracts & kickbacks. Well done to Mr Dean for his honesty.
BTW – the NTG 2006 Darwin Waterfront Corporation (DWC) Act needs amending (CLP last 27/4/2015) as $31 million dollars is funnelled annually through NTG and developers accounts whilst the DWC Management & Board skim a % of body corporate levies through committees in secret; this is deceptive and fraudulent? Can Mr Dean please audit the DWC Board and staff to find out where our money is being spent?
Quite simply!
This ALPCLP governance fears accountability most! The very fact Lia Finnochiaro’s office couldn’t respond when in reality the “good” response would have been easy “ Yes this office supports accountability, compliance and strict adherence to the procurement guidelines and act”.
That latest story mentioning apparent serious fraud conducted by many companies with regard to extract moneys by having non- indigenous staff claim indigenous heritage, all done under Andrew Kirkmans watch highlights the Auditor Generals office “ is not fit for purpose” or is indeed subject to executive pressure in disclosure!
A federal auditor general is the only Pure cure to secure accountable of the Australian taxpayers purse that funds the NT!
No Territory Politician will Legislate Transparency and Governance!
They may talk a lot about it, they will never introduce it……
We should all accept that the NTG is all about the Political Donators and there
-rented buildings with eye watering Government rent that you will never hear about,
– their immensely profitable liquor businesses and
-there Billion $ of real estate for free dealings!
You simply cannot have Transparency and Governance and Consequences in this dodgy assed town!
Darwin should be renamed Dodge….to reflect its core values.
This statement made by the auditor general as a strong recommendation towards change must surely make every Territorian ask “WTF HAS BEEN GOING ON”
“ to remove the ability for the Chief Minister to direct the Auditor-General;
and for the Auditor-General to not be a public servant”
The Auditor-General and Attorney-General Offices should work closely together if for no other reason than members of the public are unsure which office has oversight over disparate but related issues; particularly public funding. Publicly-referred evidence from one Office should be referred to the other, as appropriate.
Meanwhile, Treasury Regulations exist solely to ensure that taxpayer funds meet taxpayer-approved purposes, and the flexible terms ‘proper’, ‘acceptable’, or ‘compatible with convention’ do not enter Treasury Regulations lexicon. The terms are very precise and taxpayer funds diverted to party political projects, or to reward private party support, are unambiguously criminal. Either Treasury Regulations have been amended or some politicians are crooked.
Evidence of wrongdoing forwarded to either Office must be acknowledged and responded to and procrastination is not an option, regardless of workload. Recently, it came to my attention that the Aboriginal Benefits Trust Account (ABTA), which is a fund contributed to on a 50/50% basis by the taxpayer and by mining royalties, as per Aboriginal Land Rights Act (1976); has been converted to ‘lucky dip’ status. I had some oversight of this fund because the word ‘Trust’ represents the most powerful of all integrity protection mechanisms and my department often played a part in assessment. Somewhere along the way, the word ‘Trust’ has been removed. Long experience tells me this was to facilitate conversion to ‘pocket money’, often benefiting people who would fail an Aboriginal DNA test and who would not have qualified under ABTA criteria.
I have requested an audit to ascertain the identity of those who eliminated the ‘Trust’ protection. If my intuition is on target, this is where the massive frauds started. Response?
Zilch.