ATTORNEY-GENERAL SHIRKS RESPONSIBILITY

In 2017 an Australian Tax Office employee, Richard Boyle, blew the whistle on the improper and unethical use of garnishee orders against small businesses. This ultimately led to an ABC 4Corner's expose, an inquiry by the Inspector General of Taxation and a further inquiry by the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman.

Unfortunately the ATO, who weren't happy with the whistle being blown on them, improperly set their own investigators on to Mr Boyle who now faces criminal charges with penalties adding up to 161 years in jail.

The Inspector General of Taxation report, although weak, found that "Problems did arise in certain localised pockets with the issuing of enduring garnishee notices for a limited period, particularly so at the ATO’s Adelaide local site, but these problems were anticipated and addressed by management once they became aware of them."

A newly released report by the Small Business Ombudsman indicates the Ombudsman had received 159 complaints in the two weeks that followed the 4Corners report and has gone on to find serious system wide issues and 127 incidents of heavy handed tactics by the ATO. The report calls for sweeping changes to the ATO's garnishee policy and practice.

"This new report doesn't just reveal problems with the ATO, it also reveals significant problems with the IGT and how the Government allows whistleblowers to be treated," said Senator Patrick.

"What the IGT did was a ‘wet lettuce leaf’ investigation into the ATO, and that's about it. Amazingly, the IGT thought it was proper to have ATO minders in the room when they were seeking to investigate the purported conduct of senior management," said Rex. "The people they were interviewing, especially at the Adelaide office, had just seen what the ATO machine had done to their colleague, Mr Boyle. Did the IGT seriously think employees would be comfortable revealing the truth with a chaperone looking over their shoulder?"

"This latest report solidifies the need for the Senate Economics Committee to examine the performance of the IGT. How can a situation be allowed to stand where the ATO watchdog's performance is under question."

The Committee is still to consider self referring the inquiry.

"This whole scenario has shown the Government's total lack of conviction on whistleblower protections."

"I wrote to the Attorney-General in March asking him to discontinue the prosecution as it is not in the public interest. The Attorney-General wrote back to me last week accepting that he has to power to discontinue a prosecution, but sadly he has decided not to intervene," said Rex.

"In this case we have someone who held and acted upon great and genuine concerns about the manner in which the tax office was mistreating small businesses now facing criminal charges. This prosecution will have a seriously chilling effect on anyone in the public service contemplating a serious public interest disclosure."

"It shows that the Coalition Government will not act to protect whistleblowers and that its policy is a sham. The Attorney-General concedes he has the power to discontinue the prosecution but states that these powers are "reserved for very unusual and exceptional circumstances" and then attempts to justify his reluctance to act on the basis that the power has never been used."

"The Parliament gave the Attorney-General the power to intervene and it is most reasonable to assume that they expected the power to be used when warranted. I cannot think of a more regressive public policy situation."

"I am extremely disappointed in the approach of the Attorney-General in this matter. Indeed, he has shown a significant lack of judgment and a great deal of political cowardice."