Auditor-Gen stands strong despite flak

TASMANIA’S Auditor-General says he will continue to report without fear or favour despite criticism from councils and former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett in response to recent reports.

Auditor-General Rod Whitehouse and the Tasmanian Audit Office have recently published two reports, one into the procurement process used by Glenorchy City Council when spending more than $1 million on contracts to CT Management — headed by Mr Kennett — and another into the spending on credit cards by council general managers and elected members.

The report into Glenorchy said engaging CT Manage- ment by the council without going to tender “lacked transparency” and failed to comply with the Local Government Act and the council’s code for procurement.

Mr Kennett has said he was astonished to not be contacted by Mr Whitehead and the office and labelled it a “terribly unprofessional and incomplete report”.

He has since doubled down on that criticism — asking why the Auditor-General came to such a different conclusion to advice given to the council earlier in the year by barrister Bruce McTaggert, SC.

“I don’t know why he has looked at just that part of it [Glenorchy’s procurement],” Mr Kennett said. “If you were worried about procurement, you would have looked at the whole thing, not just CT Management.

It isn’t just Mr Kennett who has an axe to grind with an Audit Office report. A number of council general managers and elected members were displeased at a final report on an investigation into how they used their credit cards.

Mr Whitehead said he would continue to look closely at the public sector. “The Auditor-General is an independent officer, established under the Audit Act 2008 to conduct ... investigations in the Tasmanian public sector,” he said.

“The primary outcome of the audit function is independent assurance regarding the use of public resources and powers by state entities.”