Courtney, secretary cleared in inquiry

THE Integrity Commission has dismissed allegations of misconduct made against former Primary Industries minister Sarah Courtney and her then-department head, now partner, John Whittington.

The allegations were sparked after revelations Ms Courtney and Dr Whittington started a romantic relationship.

The agency was charged with investigating Ms Courtney and Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment secretary Dr Whittington for potential conflicts of interest and misuse of public funds, as well as looking at the Premier and Department of Premier and Cabinet’s response to the relationship.

Previous investigations into the relationship had cleared the pair of wrongdoing, although legal consultant Damien Bugg said the relationship should have been disclosed earlier.

A report tabled yesterday showed the Integrity Commission backed those findings, dismissing the allegations of misconduct. The report showed the pair formed their relationship on a Governmentfunded Chinese trade mission last year. There was no evidence of the misuse of public funds, nor a suggestion of interference in the DPAC investigation once the relationship was made public, the report said.

“Ms Courtney and Dr Whittington both told Mr Bugg that they agreed to commit to a personal relationship on 13 October 2018 … following the China trip and Ms Courtney’s personal holiday, and after Dr Whittington had left his marital home,” the Integrity Commission report said.

“Mr Bugg found that the relationship took on a more personal nature once Ms Courtney and Dr Whittington started spending exclusive time together in late September-early October, and ... at that stage Ms Courtney should have disclosed her conflict to the Premier. On that basis, Mr Bugg found that Ms Courtney had breached the Ministerial Code. He did not, however, regard this to be a serious breach.”