Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw says his relationship with former NSW Police chief Mick Fuller, now accomplice at PwC, was not shut.
Mr Kershaw fronted a spillover funds estimates on Friday after the AFP entered right into a $794,000 contract with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Mr Kershaw had not declared a battle of curiosity after it was discovered that he had met with Mr Fuller a number of occasions earlier than the contract was awarded.
Despite Mr Kershaw commissioning a evaluate, an AFP official informed Senate estimates in May that Mr Kershaw was not concerned within the procurement course of.
The AFP subsequently engaged PwC on the contract and not using a public tender course of. Additionally, it had been revealed that PwC held a number of separate contracts for inner auditing providers with the AFP.
Text messages obtained by NSW Greens senator David Shoebridge have revealed conversations between Mr Kershaw and Mr Fuller have been much more intensive than the AFP commissioner had beforehand urged.
Appearing earlier than the senate authorized and constitutional affairs committee on Friday, Mr Kershaw sought to make clear his relationship with Mr Fuller.
“Mr Fuller and I do not have dinner at each other’s homes. We do not play golf together and I don’t know the personal details of his life,” Mr Kershaw mentioned.
“I want to be clear about that because it is important that our professional relationship is not mischaracterised.
“The bottom line is that Mr Fuller was the best person for the job, and in the AFP, we aim to hire the best people for the job.”
The AFP’s chief working officer Paul Wood confirmed the legislation enforcement company had terminated its separate contracts with PwC.
Telling estimates {that a} “clean break” was wanted, Mr Wood mentioned the AFP had ended all contracts with the agency efficient from June 30.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
