Brandis and now Joyce

[Redneck]

No wonder Turnbull's Government is on the nose in the polls!

Now its Barnaby Tomato Head

Agriculture Department head Paul Grimes questioned Barnaby Joyce's 'integrity' days before being sacked
Heath Aston

Heath Aston

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A one-page letter that the federal government has spent a year and a half and tens of thousands of dollars trying to keep from public sight raises explosive questions about Barnaby Joyce's conduct and "integrity".

The March 2015 letter written by Paul Grimes, the former head of the Agriculture Department, was sent 10 days before he was sacked amid fallout from the so-called "Hansard-gate" affair in which the transcript of some of Mr Joyce's statements in Parliament were quietly altered.

Mr Joyce has always blamed a rogue staffer acting without his knowledge and on March 16 last year - three days after Mr Grimes was terminated by the Coalition - he was asked on the ABC's PM program "does Paul Grimes agree with that version of events?".

"He's never told me if he has a different version of events. That is the truth, that is what happened," Mr Joyce responded.

But the letter, released by the Agriculture Department on Monday, paints a much different picture from the career public servant's point of view.

"I am writing to advise you that I no longer have confidence in my capacity to resolve matters relating to integrity with you," Mr Grimes began.

"This follows the sequence of events before and following the alterations to Hansard that were made in October 2014."

The corrections included altering Mr Joyce's Question Time assertion that the farm household allowance could be accessed immediately when drought-hit farm families were actually waiting weeks and months for assistance.

"I am heavily conscious of my obligations to act ethically and impartially discharging my duties. There are established processes under the Public Service Act for resolving circumstances where a relationship between a secretary and a minister has broken down irretrievably," Mr Grimes wrote

"As I have conducted myself appropriately at all times, I have no intention of resigning or stepping aside."

A day after receiving the letter, Mr Joyce's office warned Mr Grimes that, on the request of Mr Joyce, the letter would be deleted from government records.

In his letter Grimes then suggested that his then deputy, Phillip Glyde, should become Mr Joyce's senior departmental contact as a result of the "breakdown in our working relationship".

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A spokeswoman for Mr Joyce said the letter "describes sentiments" at the time, not now.

"The Deputy Prime Minister is pleased to have a good working relationship with the current secretary Daryl Quinlivan, who is an experienced career public servant in matters vital to regional Australians, and he is proud of the work of the Department of Agriculture continues to deliver to the Australian people," the spokeswoman said.

"This letter is not a direct insight into the working relationships of the Department and the Deputy Prime Minister, and has not been for more than 17 months."

Opposition agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon has fought for the release of the letter, which was emailed directly to Mr Joyce and Tony Abbott's former head of department Michael Thawley, since the independent Information Commissioner ruled it should be made available.

Mr Joyce's department fought that ruling, spent $80,000 on engaging Ernst & Young to review its public information processes, and then fought the matter through the Administrative Appeals Tribunal before giving up the fight just after Parliament rose for two weeks on Friday.

"This letter shows Paul Grimes was deeply concerned about Barnaby Joyce's behaviour. He was challenging Joyce's integrity," Mr Fitzgibbon said on Monday.

"He clearly thought what Joyce did was not appropriate. This letter indicates he was being bullied.

"What Barnaby Joyce did was to sack Paul Grimes to save himself."

The Deputy Prime Minister's office stressed that Mr Joyce did not sack Mr Grimes, rather Mr Abbott asked him to stand aside on advice of Mr Thawley.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/ ... s9b67.html

[Rorschach]

Sooooo what do we actually know fro that article?
Pretty much nothing.
Someone did something that someone disagreed with and somebody held it against somebody and someone employed by somebody was sacked or left their position.

Anytime you care to actually get some real details that would be nice.

[Outlaw Yogi]

Oh golly ... the coalition is falling apart and the ALP is incompetent ... what are we to do?
Run for the hills?

I know We could elect Pauline Hanson as PM and make the Greens the opposition

Oops ... what should we do with Nick Xenaphon? ... OK we'll give him the balance of power and South Australia a poker machine manufacturing industry ... if the turbines are running, or the wind doesn't blow too hard.

[Redneck]

I bet you'd give the old Ranga one Yogi!

[Rorschach]

Class act Red, class act....
You are Red right?
So no real details of anyone doing anything wrong? Really?
You need to stop posting crap topics from the LW Prog website Ozpol here then eh.
Next thing you'll start posting Swinnys crap