A list of gifts received by federal Treasury staff show you don't go into public service to be lavished with exciting presents and riches.
The most expensive item was $4,091, for two tickets to an Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) conference. Two textbooks from law firm Herbert Smith Freehills — both valued at over $300 each — were "unexpectedly delivered to the office".
But most gifts were well below $100.
Two boxes of macaron biscuits, worth $45 and $75, are noted in documents obtained using the Freedom of Information (FOI) process.
After a staffer received a $7.90 bottle of olive oil, a listing on the register noted: “Have contacted to ask if he still has the gift to surrender.”
For integrity expert Serena Lillywhite, the meagre presents detailed are a welcome development.
“It’s good to see that even small gifts are recorded,” she said. “We need that because petty corruption — the grey issues, the rorts — leads to grand corruption.
Good and clear
But the Treasury gift register for the past two financial years, revealed in FOI documents from inside the government department, do sound a warning for Ms Lillywhite, the chief executive of anti-corruption body Transparency International Australia.
“I don’t think it’s okay for elected parliamentarians and Treasury to be accepting wine and free tickets. Elected parliamentarians have a responsibility to the people that elected them. They shouldn’t accept gifts, like wine and olive oil – they should be championing integrity,” she said.
"The last election showed that the public values integrity, transparency, and accountability”.
Small gifts taken seriously
In one case, agreement was reached for a $71 bottle of champagne to be consumed by the social club of the Sydney office where it was received rather than be transported to Canberra and “surrendered” there.
Australia’s global wine exports fell 17 per cent to 619 million litres in the year ended December 2021, according to industry body Wine Australia – but just nine bottles made their way to Treasury in the past two years.
Another example is media monitoring firm Streem. It has a three-year contract with Treasury, with the 2021-22 contract valued at $252,120 according to AusTender. The firm spent the equivalent of 0.02 per cent of that on a $60 “box of food” including chocolate, Christmas cake and gingerbread to the media and speeches unit.
Boss gets the gifts
Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy is by far the greatest recipient of gifts. In the past two years, Dr Kennedy declared a box of 15 macarons, two books, a Christmas ornament, six ‘Financial Review’ branded placemats, five bottles of wine and a ‘grazing box’ of food.
But he missed out on an $184 dinner with Macquarie Group chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake, when acting secretary Meghan Quinn went to the dinner at a restaurant called The Boathouse.
Treasury declined to answer specific questions about the gifts but released a brief statement."The Department of the Treasury has a policy for officials receiving gifts or benefits, which is consistent with the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. Treasury officials must declare any gifts or benefits in line with this policy".
How you know this
The Freedom of Information (FOI) process allows anyone to request documents from inside government departments and agencies.
You can ask for documents – such as emails, reports or data – about yourself or topics of interest.
Applications are free, but charges may be applied for processing the request. Search 'FOI" on the websites of the government department or agency you're interested in.
