Canberra Institute of Technology CEO Leanne Cover has resigned, a week before the report of a corruption investigation into her multi-million-dollar contracts with a consultant was due to be published. An unidentified party has taken legal action to suppress the publication of the report.
Ms Cover was stood down in June 2022 following the revelation that the CIT paid ‘complexity and systems thinker’ Patrick Hollingworth $8.5 million for strategic guidance, mentoring, and workshops for Ms Cover and her executive team.
ACT Skills Minister Chris Steel stated in 2022 that he was not convinced the “jargon”-ridden and “ill-defined” contracts represented value for money, while opposition leader Elizabeth Lee, who brought the matter to public attention, called the results “an unintelligible diatribe of words”.
Although suspended, Ms Cover continued to be paid her normal salary, increased to more than $383,000 last month. Interim CEO Christine Robertson has been paid at the same rate as Ms Cover, since the latter’s suspension.
The ACT Integrity Commission and the Auditor-General began an investigation, codenamed Operation Luna, into allegations of corrupt conduct arising from the procurement contracts in 2022.
The Special Report was sent to relevant parties late last year. The Commissioner informed interested parties on Friday that he would today present the report to Joy Burch MLA, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, to table in the Assembly and publish on the Commission’s website.
However, the Commission will not give the report to Ms Burch yet, as one of the parties has sought a Supreme Court injunction to prevent the Commissioner giving the report to the Speaker. The court will hear the plaintiff’s application this Friday.
Ms Lee said today: “The Canberra Liberals have long been calling out the Labor-Greens government for slugging Canberra taxpayers with the bill for two years of salary for Ms Cover whilst she was stood down pending the outcome of a serious corruption investigation.
“During that time, Canberra taxpayers have been footing the bill for two CIT CEOs at a cost of well over $700,000 a year, which includes a number of pay rises.
“With this saga and investigation having gone on for over two years now, we will hopefully see some of the findings from the Integrity Commission soon.”
Christine Robertson will continue as Interim CEO while the CIT Board recruits a new CEO.
Chair Kate Lundy said the recruitment would “allow our ambitious program of work to continue and the implementation of the new strategy which is in the final stages of development”.
“The Board would like to thank Ms Robertson for continuing as Interim CEO during this time. Ms Robertson continues to provide exceptional leadership to the Board, staff, students and stakeholders.
“I would like to thank CIT staff for their support while the former CEO has been on paid leave to ensure procedural fairness. The Board recognises that our staff remain our biggest asset and are critical to our success in building the essential skills for the ACT and region. The Board also thanks staff for continuing to focus on our students through this time.”
Mr Steel hoped that a new CEO would “ensure that the institution can continue to focus on delivering high-quality training to meet the needs of students, staff and industry”.
