Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee, , 8:09:29 to 8:13:03
Discussion on how the Secretaries Board approved their submission out of session and the level of consultation with the PMO.
Topics: Prime Minister and Cabinet, Integrity, Public service staffing
Speakers: Hon Jane Hume, Andrew Walter, Dr Steven Kennedy, Unknown Speaker
>> Thank you Dr. Kennedy. All right going to that submission now which was dated the 28th of August. So the secretary's board meets roughly monthly. Is that right? And it publishes publishes a communicate after each one of those meetings. Now the July communique scheduled a meeting for the 19th of August but there is no August communique on PMNC's website. Is that because there was a meeting? Was there a meeting in in August?
>> I I'll just ask my colleague to um remind me or to um prompt my memory on
>> uh Andrew Walter, first assistant secretary, government division, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Unfortunately, due to an illness, it had to be cancelled at the last minute. So, there wasn't a meeting.
>> Ah, okay. So, when did the secretary's board then approve the submission? Uh
the submission was um uh approved on the 28th of August.
>> It was approved on the 28th
>> and and submitted on the day
>> and submitted on the day. So in what forum was it approved?
>> Uh out of session.
>> It was an out of session meeting. So it was circulated.
>> Sorry. Yeah. It was circulated but not done in a kind of formal meeting. It was uh circulated by um email.
>> Right. So is there a dis is there are there minutes of that decision?
>> Uh well the fact that we submitted it is kind of the the minute of the decision because we didn't have a meeting as such. We didn't minute it uh so there's no communicate if that's what you're asking me but the but obviously we have a record that people agreed.
>> Okay. So who drafted the submission
>> Uh so the submission was prepared by uh well under my supervision. The draft the submission was prepared under my supervision and then of course uh was provided initially to uh the secretary and the commissioner and then to the board for comment.
>> Right. So it was drafted by you under your supervision cleared by you and then the lodgement was authorized after it was circulated to everybody on the secretaries board and they all ticked off on it.
>> Yes, that's pretty much correct.
>> Okay. And that was and that circulation so
>> oh sorry so it was circulated on the 25th of August.
>> 25th right?
>> Uh there was some comments there was some small adjustments made uh and then uh it was finalized and submitted on the 28th.
>> Right. Okay. Was the prime prime minister or his office or any minister consulted or informed about the submission?
>> Uh we informed informed the prime minister's office before the submission was submitted.
>> Right. informed but not ran it past or that's correct just said the secretary
board >> for visibility the secretary's board has drafted this submission and it's being submitted
>> and did the prime minister's office ask to see a copy of it before
>> we provided them for a copy at the time
>> right okay and was there any comments from the prime minister's office regarding the submission
>> not that I'm aware of
>> okay
>> we didn't seek comments
>> we didn't see comments
>> there weren't any that were unprompted so the Senate's order of the 9th of September required records showing how the submission was considered and how it was cleared and how it was approved. The documents that were provided show that input from the secretary's board in that July meeting were included in the final draft. But what was the substantive nature of that input?