A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade economist who was wrongfully sacked and later reinstated will lodge an application today in the High Court in a bid to recover more than $300,000 in legal costs.
In February 2003, the department stood down trade economist Trent Smith, with pay, after it suspected him of leaking confidential notes.
The notes related to a conversation about troop commitments to Iraq between then foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer and New Zealand high commissioner Kate Lackey.
Mr Smith was cleared of the leak, but he was sacked in 2006 for breaching the public service code of conduct after a three-year investigation uncovered an email he sent in response to a question from Labor staffer Ashley Wells in 2002.
Last September, Australian Industrial Relations Commissioner Barbara Deegan found Mr Smith had been wrongfully dismissed, and that the department had relied on the unsubstantiated allegations of diplomat Matthew Hyndes, who had a patchy history within the department.
Ms Deegan ordered Mr Smith be reinstated.
The department was ordered to pay him about $120,000 in lost income for the 18months he was unemployed.
Mr Smith was reinstated in January.
However, because it was outside the jurisdiction of the commission, costs were not awarded.
He now faces the prospect of losing his home if he cannot pay his mounting legal bills.
Last month, the full bench of the commission rejected an appeal against Ms Deegan's decision not to award costs to MrSmith.
His lawyers sought to have the department pay as much as $350,000 for his legal costs the same amount the department admitted to spending in legal fees for the 14-day hearing in May last year.
The Community and Public Sector Union urged Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday to intervene on Mr Smith's behalf.
''This case is an opportunity for the Rudd Government to finally end the political witch-hunt against Mr Smith,'' the union's national secretary, Stephen Jones, said. ''This is an appalling legacy of the Howard government that the Rudd Government can and should fix ...
''If Mr Smith goes bankrupt and loses his house after successfully defending himself, then every public servant will know they have no job security under the Rudd Government.''
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