Credit card bills anger teachers

THE credit card spending of senior TasTAFE executives has outraged teachers who are overworked and underpaid, says the education union.

As revealed by the Mercury yesterday, seven TasTAFE senior executives spent more than $230,000 on State Government credit cards and expenses claims in under two years.

Right to Information documents showed executives spent $163,834 on travel and accommodation between July 1, 2015 and May 22 this year.

During that period, a further $13,008 was spent on catering, stationery and consumables, $5627 on telecommunications and equipment and $49,972 on “other” items.

The revelations came after an Integrity Commission report claimed there was nepotism in the agency, resulting in the resignation of chief executive Stephen Conway in May.

The report identified widespread misuse of Tasmanian Government cards and suggested the behaviour of using the cards for personal expenses was a “cultural issue”.

Australian Education Union Tasmanian TAFE division president Damian von Samorzewski said teachers were “shocked and disappointed” by the credit card bills.

“Teachers recently voted to accept a minimal pay rise, in good faith, after being told by the TasTAFE management the organisation could not afford to pay them more,” he said.

“These are the same managers who continually put downward pressure on staff to teach with less, using worn out or obsolete resources.

“It’s a further insult that TasTAFE teachers often have difficulty in claiming allowances, that they are legally entitled to, while at the same time such large amounts of taxpayer funds have been used by management.”

The Government has appointed Tasmanian firm Wise, Lord and Ferguson to audit TasTAFE.

The audit is expected to take a year and will investigate issues raised in the Integrity Commission report, including the use of Government credit cards and TasTAFE’s travel and entertainment policy.