Gladys Berejiklian had critical documents relating to her own "sports rorts" pork barreling scandal shredded.
And now they want us to believe that this corrupt act from the corrupt Berejiklian is ok ?
The NSW Premier’s office has been cleared of breaching the state’s freedom of information act when it shredded documents relating to a $250 million grants scheme now at the centre of a pork-barrelling inquiry.
However, the Information and Privacy Commissioner did hand over its report on the matter to the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the State Archives and Records and Authority.
A senior member of Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s staff revealed to a parliamentary inquiry last year that she likely destroyed documents relating to the Premier’s approval of grants from the Stronger Communities fund. The matter was referred by the NSW opposition to the state’s Information and Privacy Commission, which, on Thursday, released a report to interested parties saying it was not satisfied that the complaint “in respect of allegations of serious breaches of the Act” was justified.
The report said Labor MP Greg Warren, who made the complaint, never lodged an application for the information under the Government Information Public Access (GIPA) Act. It said there was no dispute the documents had been disposed of, but without a GIPA application being lodged for them, it wasn’t satisfied that Mr Warren’s complaint of systemic breaches of the GIPA Act could be justified.
The Information and Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Tydd also raised concerns with the primary guidance manual given to all ministerial offices and staff, saying they were not satisfied it provided them with the necessary guidance to “promote lawful compliance” with the GIPA Act. Revelations about the shredding prompted the Premier's office to ask the State Archives and Records Authority to give advice on how to manage records in a ministerial office. A data search of the Premier's IT system recovered briefing notes in November last year for Ms Berejiklian, outlining why certain projects, of which almost all were in Coalition-held seats, should receive funding ahead of the 2019 state election. According to an analysis by the opposition, 95 per cent of the Stronger Communities fund went to councils in Coalition seats in the lead up to the 2019 state election.
Chair of the committee investigating the scheme, David Shoebridge, said the result of the report was “far from unexpected because this was never about compliance with the GIPA Act”. “The real concern here is transparency and the ethical expenditure of public funds,” Mr Shoebridge said. “What’s been sent to ICAC is not misconduct, but it’s a general concern about the lack of transparency in the grants program. That’s a matter that will be dealt with by the committee and potentially ICAC.”
Opposition local government spokesman Greg Warren said the report highlighted "the flaws in the process of grant programs and the Government’s mismanagement of information for their own political gain".
Ms Berejiklian in November said pork barrelling wasn't illegal and was "part of the political process".
"Governments in all positions make commitments to the community in order to curry favour," she said at the time.
Let's not forget that this is the woman who was having a very secret personal relationship with Dodgy Daryl who was doing all kinds of dodgy deals with her help.
She lied under oath to ICAC at least three times. She let the Ruby Princess dock , causing Australia's first covid19 wave.
She then failed to lock NSW down when the northern beaches outbreak began , causing many cases around Australia and resulting in many states and territories closing their borders to NSW.
The list of her mistakes and outright lies is as long as your arm .
This woman has lied and lied , she is corrupt and inept , and should resign or be sacked ASAP and replaced with someone competent .
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