The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has revealed operational details of a multi-year investigation into the Paladin affair.
Operation Bannister investigated whether a Home Affairs employee “closely related” to Paladin founder Craig Thrupp had misused her office.
Paladin was paid more than half a billion dollars to manage services in Australia’s Manus Island detention centre between 2017 and 2019.
NACC finds no corruption in Paladin investigation. Please read the facts. They are staggering.
This finding highlights that the watering down of the NACC legislation between the Govt & Coalition has made it ineffective.
Act clearly needs amending
The former senior executive, pseudonymously referred to as Anne Brown, received more than $194,000 from Paladin for “management and consulting services” in 2017.
Brown told the NACC she had used these funds to repay her home loan, but had not done any work for Paladin.
Her partner, retired Home Affairs executive Carl Delaney, assisted Paladin with its tender. While he did not have a formal role until he joined Paladin’s board of directors in 2019, he was paid $5,000 for his help.
The following year, Thrupp bought Brown and Delaney another apartment in the same building, worth $920,000. He also paid for their furniture.
Two months later, they rented it back to Paladin for $1,000 a week.
The property was sold in 2020. Brown and Delaney kept the money.
Just Unbelievable. Corruption in Australia is no longer the exception it has actually now become the rule.
The report concludes that while Brown failed to disclose “changes in circumstances”, she had not behaved dishonestly, or used her position for personal benefit.
“Although the reporting obligation is limited to ‘events that may affect your suitability to hold a security clearance, the change in her relationship status and cohabitation with Delaney, and the receipt of substantial gifts of money and property from a family member, were arguably reportable changes of circumstances.
“From April 2018 she was on long-service leave pending retirement … [she] considered she had no further obligation to make declarations of interest or changes in her circumstances.
“The changes in her financial circumstances were not adverse, but improved her financial position.
“That the donor was a close relative (not a stranger, nor a foreign national) … suggests she should have known that at least her relationship with Mr Delaney ought to have been reported.”
Commissioner Paul Brereton said given Brown’s status as an outgoing employee, her actions were “understandable”.
“The non-disclosure does not appear to have been intentional, let alone dishonest or corrupt,” he said.
“Given her position and duties at the relevant time, there was no potential conflict.”
Paladin has been the subject of intense public scrutiny since it minted contracts with the government in 2017.
The company was the only applicant invited to a limited tender process for Manus Island contracts after Transfield announced they were getting out of offshore detention.
Internal documents from 2017 revealed Home Affairs approached Paladin because Paladin had already worked there under a subcontract with Wilson Security, who was subcontracted by Transfield.
Less than a year earlier, the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) published a scathing audit of Home Affairs contract management.
It accused the department of “serious and persistent deficiencies” in its procurement process.
“Of most concern is the department’s management of processes for contract consolidation and the open tender,” it says.
“The department used approaches which reduced competitive pressure and significantly increased the price of the services without government authority to do so.”
Paladin was given an additional $109 million to operate offshore detention in 2019. This brought its contract total with Home Affairs to $532 million.
In 2020, ANAO found Home Affairs contract management had improved, but still identified concerns with the Paladin contract.
Between May 2018 and October 2019, Paladin was penalised 5,484 times by the department, largely for failures to meet deadlines and keep records.
Brereton said sustained public interest in the Paladin saga had prompted the NACC to publish the report.
“Home Affairs’ engagement of Paladin Holdings has been the subject of media attention and this public report will assist in ‘clearing the air’ in relation to this aspect of the engagement,” he said.
The Mandarin + Story