The ACT Government says territory Ombudsman Allan Asher has some explaining to do after being caught colluding with a federal politician to fix question-and-answer sessions in a Senate committee.
Mr Asher's professional reputation is under a cloud following revelations he drafted questions for the Greens to ask him in Senate Estimates hearings, where he was appearing in his role as Immigration Ombudsman.
In his answers, Mr Asher, who is also Commonwealth Ombudsman, not only criticised the Federal Government's immigration policies but called for greater funding for his own office.
Mr Asher issued a statement yesterday saying he had used an ''unorthodox approach'' and that his conduct, in hindsight, ''was not a wise route to take''. However, he said he had been forced to seek assistance from Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young in getting the issues airplay after the Government had ignored his concerns.
The collusion was exposed after Labor Senator Trish Crossin asked Mr Asher to table all correspondence he had had with members of Parliament on matters relating to asylum-seekers.
The request uncovered an email trail that showed regular correspondence between Mr Asher and Senator Hanson-Young on a range of issues, with one email from the Ombudsman's office arranging to meet with Senator Hanson-Young before the upcoming budget estimates hearings.
Mr Asher has had a difficult relationship with Immigration Minister Chris Bowen, having delivered several critical findings on the Government's immigration policies.
Senator Hanson-Young said Mr Asher had taken the action because of frustration with Mr Bowen's office.
''These emails show the Minister's office [was] not happy with the Ombudsman playing his independent role as a watchdog,'' she said yesterday.
Asked why Mr Asher had not simply issued a media release about his concerns, Senator Hanson-Young replied, ''Whenever he did he got criticised and questioned by the Minister about whether that was an appropriate thing to do.''
Green leader Senator Bob Brown said yesterday he was ''very proud'' the Greens had helped get valuable information into the public arena.
Mr Asher said that in the last budget, the Ombudsman's office had been given extra responsibilities in relation to immigration detention on Christmas Island, but no additional funding.
He raised with the Government his concerns about the situation on Christmas Island and the capacity of his office to take on the additional work without extra funding, and the consequences for other areas of work for which he was responsible.
''I expected to have the opportunity to raise these matters at the May 2011 budget estimates hearing, but was not called to appear,'' Mr Asher said.
''I then briefed Senator Sarah Hanson-Young about my immigration detention-related concerns and subsequently provided some possible questions to her office as a guide.''
Acting Chief Minister Andrew Barr said yesterday that the ACT Government, which has received scorching criticism this year from Mr Asher, expected the Ombudsman to be above partisan politics.
The former consumer rights advocate was appointed Commonwealth and ACT Ombudsman in August last year and in June this year lashed out at the ACT Government, accusing it of ignoring complaints from its citizens.
But it was the ACT Government asking the questions yesterday, with Mr Barr saying he was waiting with interest to see an explanation from Mr Asher.
''The ACT Government believes that it is vital that the office of the Ombudsman is seen to be above partisan politics,'' Mr Barr said.
''The ACT Government looks forward to Mr Asher's explanation to the Commonwealth Government in relation to the revelations today.''
Mr Bowen issued a terse statement regarding the communication between Mr Asher and the Greens, saying, ''Independence, impartiality and integrity are key values of the Office of the Ombudsman. It's a matter for the Ombudsman to explain how providing scripted questions to a senator ahead of an Estimates hearing is consistent with those values.''
Former NSW Labor Premier Bob Carr called for Mr Asher to resign yesterday.
Opposition frontbencher Eric Abetz agreed that it was sometimes ''appropriate'' for witnesses appearing before parliamentary committees to script their own questions and organise to have politicians ask them.
.gif)
