Tourism Australia is told a corruption investigation would not be launched, hours after the agency’s CEO refused to answer questions about the $137,000 incident.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission has confirmed it will not launch an investigation into three staff at Tourism Australia who were sacked for charging the organisation for personal travel.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission informed Tourism Australia it would not launch an investigation into an expenses scandal, just hours after its chief executive refused to answer questions about the matter in parliament.But she insisted could not provide parliament with further details of the incident — including the names of those involved — because that could prejudice a future probe from the NACC, and the commission had provided her with advice to show restraint in her public comments.
"The commission can confirm that it has recently decided to take no further action in relation to the referral, on the basis that, prior to the referral, the matter had already been fully investigated, the employees terminated and the funds repaid, so there was nothing that the commission could now usefully add to the process," the NACC told the ABC.
"I have to say, this is the first time in my experience where a direction from the NACC has directed an official not to make a public statement," Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell told the Senate committee last week.The ABC has approached Tourism Australia and Senator Farrell for comment.The federal opposition argued it was now incumbent on the government to come clean with details of the incident.
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