The WA opposition has criticised the attorney general's "dismissive tirade" after he said he would not do anything to address the treatment of people under state care amid ongoing inquiries.
It comes after the ABC revealed people under the care of the WA Public Trustee and Office of the Public Advocate are being charged exorbitant fees, in some cases left without access to money for necessities, and forced out of their own homes.
Deputy Opposition Leader and Nationals MP Peter Rundle questioned the attorney-general in parliament about what he was doing to address the treatment of people under state administration and guardianship.
"The WA Public Trustee's again in the sights of media, with individual cases reflecting the callous treatment of clients by the trustee," he said.
"What are you doing about this serious issue?"
In response, Attorney-General John Quigley said he was not going to get involved while inquiries were being conducted by the Department of Treasury and the auditor-general, and said clients should lodge any complaints with the state watchdog.
"Those people can go to the auditor-general and have an independent office holder examine it and report to this parliament," he said.
Mr Rundle described the response as a "dismissive tirade about impacted people".
"The attorney-general knows full well that the auditor-general's review is not looking at individual cases so will not accept individual submissions," he said.
"Clearly, the attorney-general is confused or perhaps he simply doesn't care about the appropriate management of Western Australians' estates."
Reviews underway into Public Trustee
The auditor-general is completing a detailed forensic audit on the back of her 2022 review of the Public Trustee.
"I'm not going to interfere or in any way get involved in that inquiry, other than to wait," Mr Quigley told parliament.
"Simultaneously, the Department of Treasury and … the Public Trustee are looking and reviewing the fee structure."
However, the Office of the Public Advocate, which is also facing allegations of not providing adequate treatment to people in its care, is not under review.
The Public Trustee manages the assets of some of the community's most vulnerable people, who are deemed incapable of making their own decisions.
Legislation was changed in 2008 to push the institution towards a self-funding model, which it achieved in 2012.
The government has not been required to give any funding to the Public Trustee since.
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Its operations are funded by taking from clients with more assets to supplement the fees of clients with fewer assets.
The Public Trustee raised $23.7 million from estates and trust management fees alone in 2022, and manages about $1.5 billion in assets.
Mr Rundle has called for a wide-ranging inquiry to address concerns about the treatment of people in state care.
"They deserve clear and coherent answers from the attorney-general, but unfortunately all we are seeing from John Quigley is a minister who is confused about the happenings within his own portfolio," he said.
"A self-funding government body in charge of such significant funds must be investigated if there are any concerns around mismanagement or abuse."
Mr Quigley said he had asked the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee to look into the Public Trustee last month, but the committee declined to investigate because of the probes already underway by the auditor-general and the Department of Treasury.
He said Mr Rundle needed to "correct the record".
"It is untruthful to say that the Attorney ignored [Mr Rundle's] call for the Public Accounts Committee to look into the Trustee," he said.
Barnett made change, says AG
The attorney-general said the legislative change towards self-funding was made by the previous government without going through parliament.
"One of the first things that Premier [Colin] Barnett did when he came in was to change the free structure of the Public Trustee by executive order, not coming into this parliament," Mr Quigley said.
"There was a lot of vulnerable and poor people whose estates were at the Office of the Public Trustee. They couldn't pay, so all the Public Trustee could do was charge [who] could pay."
Mr Quigley said the only course of action was to wait for the results of the inquiries.
"The Public Trustee and the Treasury are reviewing all of that … but if you're asking me, am I going to interfere with, or get involved in either of those two inquiries."
"I'm telling you that would be a totally inappropriate conduct by an attorney-general."
Gag orders prevent grievances being aired
It's illegal to identify anyone under state care due to strict gag laws across Australia, except in the ACT.
Potential penalties differ across each jurisdiction, ranging from fines of thousands of dollars to jail time.
The rules are intended to protect vulnerable people from being exploited, but also restricts people from speaking out if they have grievances with their care.
Following a Four Corners investigation into Queensland's Public Trustee in 2022, the Public Advocate John Chesterman recommended repealing the state's gag laws.
"Enabling people to talk about their own guardianship experiences outweighs the protective benefit of retaining the restriction. That's why I've recommended its appeal," he said.
But Mr Quigley did not share the same opinion.
"We never mention anyone who is the subject of a guardianship order for obvious reasons of privacy," he said.
