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A corruption inquiry will this week probe the employment arrangements of a senior V/Line manager whose annual salary exceeded that of chief executive officer Theo Taifalos, with whom he had previously worked.
The Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission inquiry heard the regional rail operator hired Alan Clifford as its general manager of rolling stock engineering without the input of its human resources department in 2014, raising “real concerns as to the integrity of the process adopted”.
Council assisting the inquiry, Ian Hill QC, said the incumbent in the position was terminated around the time Mr Clifford was offered the role, which was not put out to tender and for which no other candidate was approached.
Mr Hill said Mr Clifford was initially paid $414,000 a year, which exceeded his immediate superior’s salary by more than $100,000, and was earning $521,775 per year by the time he left the job, more than Mr Taifalos’ annual salary, including bonuses.
Mr Clifford’s qualifications to hold the position will be examined during the Operation Lansdowne hearings in Melbourne this week and Mr Hill said it appeared “Mr Clifford was appointed to the role without having provided evidence to confirm or establish that he held the pre-requisite qualifications for the role”.
“The evidence also indicates that Mr Clifford was appointed to and remained in the role without the necessary probity checks having been conducted, including a police check,” he said.
“Subsequent efforts by staff within V/Line’s human resources department to carry out the mandatory probity checks were thwarted. This matter, and in particular the role of Mr Taifalos in connection with the avoidance of probity checks on Mr Clifford, will be a focus of the evidence to be heard this week.”
It will also be alleged Mr Clifford’s superior, executive general manager of asset management, David Cameron, recruited Mr Clifford’s partner, Nicola Spiers, to the role of 2017 timetable project director, without considering any other candidate for the role.
“It is not apparent whether Mr Cameron disclosed to anyone at V/Line the full extent of his connection with Ms Spiers prior to her being given the job,” Mr Hill said.
“Again, serious concerns arise as to the integrity of the recruitment process for this position, which resulted in the award[ing] of a highly-paid job to Mr Clifford’s de facto spouse.”
Ms Spiers has also featured as a person of interest in the inquiry hearings so far for her part in an alleged scheme to enrol staff at a utility infrastructure service provider in an engineering course without their knowledge in order for training company TayTell to siphon off government funds.
Mr Hill told the inquiry it appeared a range of contract and consultancy work was given to TayTell director, Rebecca Taylor, in 2015 and 2016 at Mr Clifford’s instigation.
“The circumstances of the engagement of Ms Taylor through TayTell, and the Six Sigma training provided to V/Line, are of concern,” he said.
“That concern is deepened, Commissioner, by evidence heard earlier in these hearings that suggests a pattern of conduct by Ms Taylor and TayTell involving the enrolment of employees who had attended Six Sigma training sessions into TAFE courses, in order for TayTell to claim government funds.”
Mr Hill said there was “an enormous public interest in ensuring that the train services and rolling stock, upon which Victorians rely and into which they entrust their personal safety, operate and are maintained to the highest standards, by persons appropriately skilled and qualified to carry out that essential work”.
“IBAC’s investigations so far suggest a pattern of corrupt conduct at V/Line involving the deliberate circumvention of important employment and procurement procedures, for the purpose of securing valuable jobs and contracts for friends, family members and associates,” he said.