A South Australian government minister’s adviser appeared to be receiving “large sums of money” into a bank account, prompting an investigation into potential bribery, the state’s outgoing anti-corruption commissioner has revealed.

In a report tabled in state parliament on Tuesday, Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) commissioner Ann Vanstone wrote that she received “intelligence” that suggested the adviser “might have been engaging in corruption”.

She wrote that an investigation found the adviser’s financial situation was “tenuous”, but no illegality was identified.

“It appeared the adviser was receiving large sums of money into a bank account from unexplained sources, possibly as bribes,” she wrote.

“The source of the payments was identified.

“There was no illegality, but there was vulnerability.”

Ms Vanstone did not name the ministerial adviser or state when the investigation took place.

A woman at a parliamentary inquiry.

SA’s outgoing Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Ann Vanstone at a parliamentary inquiry. (ABC News: Lincoln Rothall)

She wrote the matter was brought to the attention of the minister and addressed with their adviser “to the satisfaction of the commissioner”.

“Notwithstanding that no evidence of corruption was found, the investigation did highlight the significant corruption risks for ministerial staff, and for the staff of members of parliament,” she wrote.

South Australia’s premier, Peter Malinauskas, told ABC News the adviser was currently employed by his government, but he refused to name the minister for whom they worked.

He said he had spoken to the ministerial adviser “to make sure that they are addressing the issue that was raised, notwithstanding the fact that there was no suggestion of any illegality or any corruption”.

“This person isn’t found to have done anything wrong,” he said.

‘Governance black hole’ for SA ministerial advisers

The ICAC report — titled The Gatekeepers: Corruption Risks With Ministerial Advisors — also found there was a “governance black hole” for ministerial advisers in SA.

“Good governance requires rules, expectations and lines of accountability to be clearly set out, understood and observed,” Ms Vanstone wrote.

“It could not be said that this is the case for ministerial staff in the South Australian government today.”

Ms Vanstone wrote the risks of corruption could be minimised if public sector agencies followed legislation, premier’s directions, the code of ethics and government guidelines.

But she stated there appeared to be a “considerable divergence” between what is expected of public sector agencies and ministerial advisers.

“Appointments to ministerial advisor roles are likely to be made based on political allegiances rather than a merit-based recruitment process that agencies must follow,” the commissioner wrote.

“Despite improvements to public sector recruitment processes in recent years — some in response to instances of corruption — pre-employment screening is not standard for the appointment of ministerial staff.”

Ms Vanstone made six recommendations to the government, including a review of recruitment processes for ministerial staff, and compulsory training for ministerial advisers.

South Australia's premier Peter Malinauskas during a media conference.

Mr Malinauskas said the government was considering six recommendations made by the ICAC. (ABC News: Carl Saville)

Mr Malinauskas said he had forwarded the recommendations to SA’s Public Sector Employment Commissioner.

“I think some of those recommendations on my first reading of them have some merit,” he said.

“We’re more than happy to address those … and that’s why we’ve invited the Commissioner for the Public Sector to provide some recommendations to government about how they might be administered.”

Ombudsman enquires into delivery of government grant

The Gatekeepers report was one of five reports published by Ms Vanstone and tabled in state parliament on Tuesday.

Another report details the findings of an 18-month-long ICAC evaluation into the use of government grants to pay for election promises.

Concerns about the use of government grants were first raised in the aftermath of the 2022 state election, when ABC News revealed grants were used to fund 72 sports club upgrades with all but three in seats Labor held or won at that year’s election.

In her report to parliament, Ms Vanstone revealed the state’s ombudsman was also enquiring into whether the government committed misconduct, maladministration or administrative error when it awarded a $1 million grant to an Adelaide-based clothing manufacturer.

“The ombudsman has not formed a view on whether there has been misconduct, maladministration or administrative error,” she wrote.

“The commission has been authorised to disclose some particulars of the matter to illustrate potential corruption risks related to election commitment grants.”

Ms Vanstone wrote that in the lead-up to the 2022 state election, Labor promised a “manufacturing innovation grants program” at the premises of a local clothing manufacturing business.

But the commissioner stated that upon Labor coming to power, the promised competitive grants program “never came to fruition”.

She wrote that the government had instead directed one of its departments to hand a $1 million grant to the manufacturer.

“It is understood the funding earmarked for that program was eventually subsumed under a larger economic recovery fund,” she wrote.

“Further, the decision to award the $1 million grant to the clothing manufacturer appeared to have been made in advance of receiving any comprehensive submission for funding from the organisation.”

Ms Vanstone wrote there had been “confusion” within the government about the election promise.

“That confusion was reportedly discussed and clarified in a cabinet meeting, and the original promise of an open and competitive grants program was authorised,” she wrote.

“The relevant department was erroneously directed to provide a single grant to the business.”

Government says it responded ‘quickly’ to error

Attorney-General Kyam Maher told parliament that the grant was “incorrectly identified” as an election commitment, despite no such commitment being made.

He said a “circular” was issued in November last year “to avoid a similar incident occurring again”.

But the state opposition’s government accountability spokesperson, Ben Hood, said the error raised “significant questions over due diligence and over accountability”.

“The fact that ICAC have raised this and that a $1 million grant has been awarded because of a clerical administrative error seriously makes us question what is happening in cabinet from this government,” he said.

The logo of South Austraia's Independent Commission Against Corruption.

The commissioner wrote that the risks of corruption could be minimised if public sector agencies followed legislation, premier’s directions, the code of ethics and government guidelines. (Independent Commissioner Against Corruption SA)

Mr Malinauskas said the clothing manufacturer had “aspirations for growth” and they made a “comprehensive case” for the grant.

“I definitely think there was an error that took place that the ICAC’s investigation was able to identify that we were able to respond to quite quickly,” he said.

Ms Vanstone will resign from her role as ICAC commissioner within a fortnight, after serving four years in the role.

The SA government is yet to announce who will fill in as acting ICAC commissioner while it searches for Ms Vanstone’s replacement.



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