That same month, Mr Catley allegedly directed a more junior staff member to delete an email about the exit from Transport for NSW of a manager who had a senior role overseeing the IT project, according to witness statements given to the Information Commission.
Friday 18 May 2018
The people attracted to a career in Tzar Peter’s federal super ministry.....
Brisbane
Times, 16 May
2018:
The information chief at
Peter Dutton’s new Home Affairs super ministry allegedly ordered the deletion
of a government record relevant to a request under freedom of information laws
when he was a senior executive at NSW’s transport agency.
Tim Catley, who began
his high-ranking role at Home Affairs in February, is accused of directing
staff at Transport for NSW to delete government information in 2016, in witness
statements given during an investigation by the state’s Information and Privacy
Commission.
Mr Catley vehemently
denies he asked anyone to delete government records. “The allegation that
I asked anyone to delete an email is not true and it is not technologically
possible to do that anyway [at the transport agency]. Professionally and
ethically I wouldn’t do anything like that,” he told the Herald.
Following a referral
from the Independent Commission Against Corruption, the state’s Information
Commission launched an investigation behind closed doors into the deletion of a
record at Transport for NSW to avoid public disclosure 18 months ago.
During that
investigation, the Information Commission was told of a culture inside
Transport for NSW of suppressing bad news, meaning that higher levels within
the department were not told of potential cost blowouts on projects.
The investigation also
heard that warnings about this culture of suppression were relayed to the then
secretary of the department, Tim Reardon, now NSW’s top public servant as head
of the Department of Premier and Cabinet.
A preliminary report on
the Information Commission’s investigation, seen by the Herald, found that
a Transport for NSW executive issued directions to delete government
information relevant to a request under the Government Information (Public
Access) Act (GIPA), the state’s freedom of information legislation.
“The investigation has
found that the executive directed the deletion of records that were germane to
a GIPA access application and that staff acted on that direction,” the report,
by Information and Privacy commissioner Elizabeth Tydd, said.
Ms Tydd’s report did not
name Mr Catley as the executive who directed the deletion. But the witness
statements to the commission assert that it was Mr Catley who gave the
direction.
Despite her finding
about the direction, Ms Tydd determined there were no grounds to refer the
matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions or the Attorney-General….
According to Ms Tydd’s
analysis, if the official who destroys the information is unaware the
information is subject to a freedom-of-information request, the person who
directed them to delete that information did not commit an offence.
And because other staff
at Transport for NSW later ensured the deleted document was retrieved, the
commissioner found the government agency had not failed in its duty.
According to evidence given during the
investigation, Mr Catley raised concerns at a meeting in July 2016 about emails
that detailed a cost blowout in the $425 million “Next Generation
Infrastructure Services” project. An application for information about the IT
project sought under the GIPA Act was also discussed at the meeting.
That same month, Mr Catley allegedly directed a more junior staff member to delete an email about the exit from Transport for NSW of a manager who had a senior role overseeing the IT project, according to witness statements given to the Information Commission.
That same month, Mr Catley allegedly directed a more junior staff member to delete an email about the exit from Transport for NSW of a manager who had a senior role overseeing the IT project, according to witness statements given to the Information Commission.
At the time, Mr Catley had responsibility for technology
at Transport for NSW as its chief information officer, a role he had held since
2012.
Early
this year, a “confidential” report by a consulting firm commissioned by Transport for NSW
revealed a concerning picture of the state of IT at the state’s transport
agencies.......
Federal Circuit Court on Thursday sentenced Trek North Tours owner operator to 12 months' prison and fined him $67,000
Leigh Alan Jorgensen, Financial Review, 13 May 2018 |
In the continuing matter of A.C.N. 156 455 828 Pty Ltd & Anor.
Fair Work Ombudsman, media
release, 14 May 2018:
Jail term imposed in
Fair Work Ombudsman’s first contempt of court case
A
Northern Queensland business operator has been jailed – and then released
pending the outcome of his appeal – as a result of the Fair Work Ombudsman’s
first contempt-of-court action.
On Thursday May 10, the
Federal Circuit Court sentenced Leigh Alan Jorgensen - the owner-operator of
a Cairns company trading as Trek North Tours – to a 12-month jail
term and fined him $84,956 for committing contempt of court by contravening a
freezing order that applied to funds in his company’s accounts.
The Court ordered that
Jorgensen’s jail term be suspended after he had spent 10 days in jail on the
condition of payment of the fine.
Jorgensen sought an
urgent stay of the orders in the Federal Court and lodged an appeal against his
conviction and sentence. In accordance with her model litigant obligations, the
Fair Work Ombudsman agreed to the stay on conditions. On May 11, the Federal
Court ordered that his sentence be stayed and Jorgensen be released from jail
on conditions, pending the outcome of his appeal.
A Court date has not yet
been set for the appeal hearing but an order has been made that it be
expedited.
The matter is the first
time the Fair Work Ombudsman has commenced a contempt of court action and the
first time a jail term has been imposed as a result of the Agency’s actions.
Judge Salvatore Vasta
imposed the jail term after finding Jorgensen had committed contempt of court
when he contravened a freezing order the Fair Work Ombudsman secured against
his company in 2015.
Freezing orders were
imposed in the Federal Circuit Court in 2015 preventing any dispersion of
Jorgensen’s and his company’s assets until such time as they complied with
penalty and back-payment orders resulting from the Fair Work Ombudsman taking
legal action against them for underpaying five back-packers on 417 working
holiday visas in 2013 and 2014.
The relevant orders from
that legal action, imposed by the Federal Circuit Court in June 2015, were for
Jorgensen to pay a $12,000 penalty and his company to pay a $55,000 penalty and
back-pay the backpackers in full, all by 17 July, 2015.
The Fair Work Ombudsman
took the step of securing freezing orders against both Jorgensen and his
company after both failed to pay the amounts owed by the due date and receiving
information that gave rise to concerns that Jorgensen would divert company assets
to avoid payment of the penalties and back-pay.
At the time, Jorgensen’s
communications with the Fair Work Ombudsman suggested he was prepared to
‘bankrupt’ his company to avoid paying the penalties and back-pay order.
Jorgensen had also
previously told Fair Work inspectors investigating the underpayments that the
backpackers ‘would not get a cent’ in back-pay.
After the freezing
orders were imposed, Jorgensen paid the penalty imposed on him personally into
Court, resulting in the freezing order against him being lifted.
However, Jorgensen’s
company failed to pay its penalty and failed to back-pay the workers, resulting
in the freezing order against his company remaining in place.
The Fair Work Ombudsman
commenced legal action against Jorgensen for contempt of Court last year,
alleging that Jorgensen committed the offence of contempt of court in August
2015 when he contravened the freezing order against his company by transferring
a total of $41,035 from two frozen accounts into his family trust account.
Judge Vasta found that
the Fair Work Ombudsman had presented evidence to prove, beyond a reasonable
doubt, that Jorgensen committed the offence.
Pending the outcome of
his appeal, the Federal Court has released Jorgensen on conditions including
that he surrender his passport, remain in Queensland and report to Police twice
a week.
Fair Work Ombudsman
Natalie James says that the commencement of these proceedings demonstrates that
her Agency is prepared to use every tool at its disposal to ensure justice is served.
“We will use every lever
open to us to ensure the integrity of the administration of justice and
compliance with court orders imposed under the Fair Work Act 2009.
“This includes taking
unprecedented new actions available to us across the legal framework such as
this one.”
BACKGROUND
Australian Securities and Investments
Commission (ASIC), media
release, 6 February 2017:
17-023MR Former company
director charged with making false or misleading statements
Former company director
Leigh Alan Jorgensen, of Cairns, Queensland, has been charged with making a
false or misleading statement to ASIC.
In February 2016, Mr
Jorgensen lodged with ASIC a Form 6010 to voluntarily deregister A.C.N 156 455
828 Pty Ltd (ACN 156 455 828), in which ASIC alleges that Mr Jorgensen falsely
and misleadingly claimed the company had no outstanding liabilities. At the
time, ACN 156 455 828 had an outstanding liability owing to the Commonwealth
and Mr Jorgensen was the sole director.
The charge was brought
against Mr Jorgensen following an ASIC investigation into his conduct as a
director of the company.
Mr Jorgensen is due to
appear at the Cairns Magistrates Court on 21 March 2017.
The Commonwealth
Director of Public Prosecutions is prosecuting the matter.
Background
The matter was brought
to ASIC's attention by the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO), who initiated legal
proceedings against Mr Jorgensen and ACN 156 455 828 for unpaid employee
entitlements. The FWO obtained judgement against ACN 156 455 828 which, in
part, required the company to pay the Commonwealth a pecuniary penalty of
$55,000. The order was obtained by the FWO before Mr Jorgensen lodged the Form
6010 to deregister ACN 156 455 828.
As a result of ASIC's
investigation, Mr Jorgensen has been charged with contravening section 1308(2)
of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).
Mr Jorgensen ceased as a
director of ACN 156 455 828 on 1 March 2016. A Liquidator was appointed to ACN
156 455 828 on 29 July 2016.
Editor's note 1:
Following a hearing at
the Cairns Magistrates' Court on 21 March 2017, the matter was adjourned
for further mention until 16 May 2017.
Editor's note 2:
Following a hearing at
the Cairns Magistrates Court on 16 May 2017, the matter was adjourned for
further mention on 27 June 2017.
Editor's note 3:
Following a hearing at
the Cairns Magistrates Court on 27 June 2017, the matter was adjourned
for further mention on 25 July 2017.
Editor's note 4:
Following a hearing at
the Cairns Magistrates Court on 25 July 2017, the matter was adjourned
for further mention on 22 August 2017.
Editor's note 5:
Following a hearing at
the Cairns Magistrates Court on 22 August 2017, the matter was adjourned
to 5 September 2017.
Editor's note 6:
Following a hearing at
the Cairns Magistrates Court on 7 September 2017, the matter was
adjourned for further mention on 19 September 2017.
Editor's note 7:
A warrant was issued for
Mr Jorgensen following his failure to attend the Cairns Magistrates Court on 19
September 2017.
Editor's note 8:
Following a hearing at
the Cairns Magistrates Court on 27 September 2017, the matter was
adjourned to 3 October 2017.
Editor's note 9:
Following a hearing at
the Cairns Magistrates Court on 3 October 2017, the matter was set down
for a committal hearing on 24 November 2017.
Editor's note 10:
Following a hearing at
the Cairns Magistrates Court on 24 November 2017, the matter was adjourned to
13 February 2018.
Labels:
Australian corporations,
Fair Work Commission,
Federal Court,
law,
wages
Thursday 17 May 2018
Liberals continue to behave badly in 2018 - Part Five
The Age, 8 May 2018:
A branch of the NSW
Liberal Party is set to debate the merits of Sharia-style corporal punishment
and a radical proposal to make citizens responsible for sentencing criminals
rather than judges.
The notoriously
hard-right Carlingford branch, under its colourful president George Popowski,
will discuss a push to "straighten out the law and order system" by
handing sentencing powers to a panel of 20 members of the public, with no more
than 30 per cent from the legal fraternity.
Mr Popowski, who
authored the motion, also urged the reintroduction of corporal punishment, arguing
it was the "fairest" form of retribution because "we all feel
the same pain".
He proposed 10 lashes
for theft of a T-shirt, 1000 lashes for stealing a car (2000 if the vehicle is
damaged), 5000 lashes for punching a police officer and 20,000 lashes for
murder.
The floggings should be
"delivered at 10 lashes per hour – every hour from 9am to 5pm, with
one hour for lunch", Mr Popowski wrote. The sentence would be doubled
for second-time offenders.
The Guardian, 18 March 2018:
The outspoken Liberal National party MP George Christensen has hit
out at his own government for its funding of abortion services in Australia and
around the world.
The federal member for Dawson was joined by the incoming Queensland senator Amanda
Stoker on
Sunday as they addressed hundreds of pro-lifers at a rally outside state
parliament in Brisbane.
Christensen said he was
filled with shame when he learned the federal Coalition gave $9.5m to an
international planned parenthood agency that he claimed made money from
terminations.
“I’ve got to say that was a disgraceful act,”
he said. “It was a very low point I think for our nation.”
Christensen said he
would write to the treasurer, Scott Morrison, this week to urge him to divert
funding from an international planned parenthood agency to pregnancy, crisis
and counselling services for young Australian mothers.
The rogue MP also
mobilised the crowd to take action against the state Labor government, which
will reintroduce legislation to decriminalise abortion once it receives
recommendations from the Law Reform Commission.
“I think we’re about to
get a tsunami of bad laws here,” he said. “We might even be seeing something
that makes Victoria and the draconian regime they’ve got there look like a walk
in the park.”
Wednesday 16 May 2018
A Turnbull Government Minister Gets The Dig In - then tries to remove the evidence
This was Australian Treasurer and Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison having second thoughts....
This was the tweeted video Morrison was attempting to hide....
The video still lives on Twitter because although Morrison could be incredibly childish he couldn't be all that original....
You're UnbelieveaBill pic.twitter.com/sDmmnbO73V— Alice Workman (@workmanalice) May 11, 2018
Journalist Alice Workman tweeting @nickwray's creation, 11 May 2018
Even the UnbelievaBill has tag is not original - see Instragram hash tag - and then there is poor Bill D who as @unbelievabill must wonder what is happening to his Twitter mentions.
An insider has finally admitted what any digital native would be well aware of - your personal health information entered into a national database will be no safer that having it up on Facebook
Remembering that a federal government national screening program, working with with a private entity, has already accessed personal information from Medicare without consent of registered individuals and entered these persons into a research program - again without consent - and these individuals apparently could not easily opt out of being listed as a research subject but were often only verbally offered the option of declining to take part in testing, which presumably meant that health data from other sources was still capable of being collected about them by the program. One has to wonder what the Turnbull Government and medical establishment actually consider patient rights to be in practice when it comes to "My Health Record".
Healthcare IT News, 4 May 2018:
Weeks
before the anticipated announcement of the My Health Record opt out period, an
insider’s leak has claimed the Australian Digital Health Agency has decided associated
risks for consumers “will not be explicitly discussed on the website”.
As
the ADHA heads towards the imminent announcement of the three-month window in
which Australians will be able to opt out of My Health Record before being
signed up to the online health information repository, the agency was caught by
surprise today when details emerged in a blog post by GP and member of the
steering group for the national expansion of MHR, Dr Edwin Kruys.
Kruys wrote that MHR offers “clear benefits”
to healthcare through providing clinicians with greater access to discharge
summaries, pathology and diagnostic reports, prescription records and more, but
said “every digital solution has its pros and cons” and behind-the-scenes risk
mitigation has been one of the priorities of the ADHA. However, he claimed
Australians may not be made aware of the risks involved in allowing their
private medical information to be shared via the Federal Government’s system.
“It
has been decided that the risks associated with the MyHR will not be explicitly
discussed on the website,” Kruys wrote.
“This
obviously includes the risk of cyber attacks and public confidence in the
security of the data.”
The
most contentious contribution in the post related to the secondary use of
Australians’ health information, the framework of which has yet to be announced
by Health Minister Greg Hunt.
Contacted
by HITNA, the agency moved swiftly to have Kruys delete the paragraph
relating to secondary use.
In
the comment that has since been removed, Kruys wrote, “Many consumers and
clinicians regard secondary use of the MyHR data as a risk. The MyHR will
contain a ‘toggle’, giving consumers the option to switch secondary use of
their own data on or off.”
Under
the My Health Records Act 2012, health information in MHR may be
collected, used and disclosed “for any purpose” with the consent of the
healthcare recipient. One of the functions of the system operator is “to
prepare and provide de-identified data for research and public health
purposes”.
Before
these provisions of the act will be implemented, a framework for secondary use
of MHR systems data must be established.
HealthConsult
was engaged to assist the Federal Government in developing a draft framework
and implementation plan for the process and within its public consultation
process in 2017 received supportive submissions from the Australasian College
of Health Informatics, the Australian Bureau of Statistics and numerous
research institutes, universities, and clinicians’ groups.
Computerworld, 14 May 2018:
Use of both de-identified
data and, in some circumstances, identifiable data will be permitted under a
new government framework for so-called “secondary use” of data derived from the
national eHealth record system. Linking data from the My Health Record system
to other datasets is also allowed under some circumstances.
The Department of Health
last year commissioned
the development of the framework for using My Health Record data for
purposes other than its primary purpose of providing healthcare to an
individual.
Secondary use can
include research, policy analysis and work on improving health services.
Under the new framework,
individuals who don’t want their data used for secondary purposes will be
required to opt-out. The opt-out process is separate from the procedure
necessary for individuals who don’t want an eHealth
record automatically created for them (the government last year
decided to shift to an opt-out
approach for My Health Record)……
Access to the data will
be overseen by an MHR Secondary Use of Data Governance Board, which will
approve applications to access the system.
Any Australian-based
entity with the exception of insurance agencies will be permitted to apply for
access the MHR data. Overseas-based applicants “must be working in
collaboration with an Australian applicant” for a project and will not have
direct access to MHR data.
The data drawn from the
records may not leave Australia, but under the framework there is scope for
data analyses and reports produced using the data to be shared internationally……
The Department of Health
came under fire in 2016 after it released for download supposedly
anonymised health data. Melbourne University researchers were able to
successfully re-identify a range of data.
Last month the Office of
the Australian Information Commissioner revealed that health
service providers accounted for almost a quarter of the breaches reported
in the first six weeks of operation of the Notifiable Data Breach (NDB) scheme.
The Sydney Morning Herald,
14 May 2018:
Australians who don't
want a personal electronic health record will have from July 16 to October 15
to opt-out of the national scheme the federal government announced on Monday.
Every Australian will
have a My Health Record unless they choose to opt-out during the three-month
period, according to the Australian Digital Health Agency.
The
announcement follows the release of the government’s secondary use of data
rules earlier this month that inflamed concerns of patient privacy and data
use.
Under the framework,
medical information would be made available to third parties from 2020 -
including some identifying data for public health and research purposes -
unless individuals opted out.
In other news.......
The
Sydney Morning Herald,
14 May 2018:
A cyber attack on Family
Planning NSW's website has exposed the personal information of up to 8000
clients, including women who have booked appointments or sought advice
about abortion, contraception and other services.
Clients received an
email from FPNSW on Monday alerting them that their website had been hacked on
Anzac Day.
The compromised data
contained information from roughly 8000 clients who had contacted FPNSW via its
website in the past 2½ years to make appointments or give feedback.
It included the personal
details clients entered via an online form, including names, contact details,
dates of birth and the reason for their enquiries….
The website was secured
by 10am on April 26, 2018 and all web database information has been secure
since that time
SBS
News, 14 May
2018:
Clients were told Family
Planning NSW was one of several agencies targeted by cybercriminals who
requested a bitcoin ransom on April 25…..
The not-for-profit has
five clinics in NSW, with more than 28,000 people visiting every year.
The most recent Digital
Rights Watch State of Digital Rights (May 2018) report can be found here.
The report’s
8 recommendations include:
Repeal
of the mandatory metadata retention scheme
Introduction
of a Commonwealth statutory civil cause of action for serious invasions of
privacy
A
complete cessation of commercial espionage conducted by the Australian Signals
Directorate
Changes
to copyright laws so they are flexible, transparent and provide due process to
users
Support
for nation states to uphold the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child in the digital age
Expand
the definition of sensitive information under the Privacy Act to specifically
include behavioural biometrics
Increase
measures to educate private businesses and other entities of their
responsibilities under the Privacy Act regarding behavioural biometrics, and
the right to pseudonymity
Introduce
a compulsory register of entities that collect static and behavioural biometric
data, to provide the public with information about the entities that are
collecting biometric data and for what purpose
The
loopholes opened with the 2011 reform of the FOI laws should be closed by
returning ASD, ASIO, ASIS and other intelligence agencies to the ambit of the
FOI Act, with the interpretation of national security as a ground for refusal
of FOI requests being reviewed and narrowed
Telecommunications
providers and internet platforms must develop processes to increase
transparency in content moderation and, make known what content was removed or triggered an account suspension.
Tuesday 15 May 2018
It doesn't pay to tell outright political lies on national television....
.... because there are bound to be old election campaign warriors watching.
Australian
Treasurer and Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison, ABC Insiders
interview, 13 May 2018, telling an untruth:
“You tell me when a
government in their budget has ever provided detailed costings, post the
forward estimates up to the medium term. It’s never happened….
..we don't provide within-year
estimates …on the cost of expenditure items”
Hawker
Britton Managing Director Simon Banks,
Twitter, 13 May 2018, showing
Coalition Government costings in 2014-15 Budget:
It is amusing to note that Scott Morrison was a member of the Coalition Government when that 2014-15 Budget was handed down.Angry @scottmorrisonMP claiming government's have never provided year by year costings over the medium term of policy changes— Simon Banks (@SimonBanksHB) May 12, 2018
Simply untrue #insiders
And here's one example - the LNP's 2014 cuts to schools and hospitals pic.twitter.com/b8MMdrI8eG
In fact he was a Cabinet Minister being then the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, so he would have more than a passing understanding of what went into those particular budget papers.
The reason Peter Dutton is looking so smug lately
Peter Dutton, 4 May 2016
Photo: Stephanie Peatling
Already a sitting member in a predominately 'white bread', somewhat politically disengaged Queensland electorate with a relativley large workforce and a stable employment rate, Liberal MP for Dickson, Minister for Home Affairs & Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton is exuding confidence bordering on arrogance.
Well he might - the Liberal Party having strongly lobbied the Australian Electoral Commission in last year's redistribution thereby slightly increasing the slim margin by which he holds the seat of Dickson,
with $650,000
pledged to his 2018-19 election campaign chest, legislation transferring ASIO into the Home Affairs portfolio having received royal assent on 10 May 2018, on track to gain unprecedented control over the
criteriagoverning citizenship acquisition, the time it takes for a person to
gaincitizenship after their application has been approved, and even
the circumstances in which citizenship can be revoked and, exercising his political muscle within his own party, he looks to be firmly in the driver's seat.
The people of Kurwongbah, Petrie, Strathpine, Albany Creek, Ferny Hills, Everton Hills, Murrumba Downs, parts of Kallangur, Lake Samsonvale, Lake Kurwongbah and the rest of Dickson need to take a good hard look at their sitting member and ask themselves; do they really want to be responsible for re-electing Peter Dutton who is on his way to be the next far-right, authoritarian 'Trump' to head a federal government?
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