“Although Berry has now had a shadow cleared, it is hard to understand how a competent minister was not aware of interference by both the head of her directorate and by her chief of staff,” writes political columnist MICHAEL MOORE.
The Deputy Chief Minister, Yvette Berry has had a shadow lifted from her.
However, the Operation Kingfisher investigation by the ACT Integrity Commission has found seriously corrupt conduct by her former chief of staff, Josh Ceramidas, and the former head of the Education Directorate, Katy Haire.
A contract to upgrade Campbell Primary School was awarded through “a dishonestly provided back door by which the strategic interests of the CFMEU were given priority”. The Commission described it as “reprehensible conduct”.
These findings come at a time where accusations of corrupt conduct by Victorian unions have cost the public in the order of $15 billion over the last couple of decades.
The relationship between governments and the CFMEU has been brought into question across Australia. The report, Rotting from the Top, by Geoffrey Watson SC and commissioned by the CFMEU administrator, Mark Irving KC, alleged the Victorian branch “was no longer a trade union, it was a crime syndicate”.
This illustrates why an integrity commission is so important not only in Canberra, but in all jurisdictions. Although critical of the time that it has taken for the ACT Integrity Commission to report on Kingfisher, it is fair to say that the law has allowed significant delays exacerbated by legal actions undertaken by both of those found to have participated in “serious corrupt conduct”.
Haire and Ceramidas were both in positions of considerable power and participated in unjustifiable interference in tender processes. This was at a considerable cost to one of the tenderers and put into doubt the integrity of the tender process in the ACT.
The project was awarded to Lendlease over Manteena despite findings by two separate evaluations that the latter had a superior design and cheaper build. The investigation by the commission was to understand whether there was a union of political interference leading to the intervention.
The report found no corrupt findings or findings of wrongdoing against Lendlease. Ms Haire resigned from the Education Directorate in 2024.
The report cleared Ms Berry of wrongdoing. It found no evidence that her chief of staff acted at her direction or even that she knew of, agreed with or participated in his improper conduct. He stated that there was no proper basis for an adverse finding against the minister.
Although Berry has now had a shadow cleared, it is hard to understand how a competent minister was not aware of interference by both the head of her directorate and by her chief of staff.
In exposing Ceramidas, the integrity commission reported that he “acted in his own interest for the purpose of currying favour with the CFMEU”. This does not happen in a vacuum and reminds the community of how important it is to maintain appropriate oversight of government processes.
There is another issue that was not addressed by the commission. The head of each of the directorates answer to both their own ministers and the head of the Chief Minister’s Directorate. Surely, this must also bring into question both the level of competence in the ACT bureaucracy and the efficacy of the system of directorates?
The report specifically states: “Each of the actors also concealed and made misleading statements to entities responsible for interrogating the probity of the process (the cover-up). In Ms Haire’s case, this involved departing from her duty of candour to the head of service” (along with others).
The details in the report about the interactions between Ms Haire and the head of service really emphasise the dysfunctional relationships within the ACT public service. The “duty of candour” refers to her relationship with the head of service rather than with her minister.
In the wash-up, after more than five years of investigation by the ACT Integrity Commission, Yvette Berry has been cleared of being involved in the corrupt conduct.
However, there is a question about how much she ought to have understood and how much freedom she allowed her chief of staff to act in her name.
The broader question is where does the buck stop within the ACT public service. The Kingfisher report explains why integrity must be maintained ensuring decisions are “transparent and entirely independent of and unaffected by any political and outside influence”.
However, the report does illustrate that the buck does not stop with the minister.
Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and an Independent minister for health. He has been a political columnist with “CityNews” since 2006
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