The Federal Government has reversed its decision not to give the former director of the Australian War Memorial, Brendan Kelson, and the deputy director, Michael McKernan, legal aid in their challenge over a report by the Merit Protection Review Agency.
The MPRA did a four-month inquiry at the memorial last year and presented it to Public Service Minister Gary Johns just before Christmas.
Mr Kelson and Dr McKernan say they were not given an opportunity to respond to adverse findings in the report about workplace harassment and launched a Federal Court action to have the report set aside. The case has been heard and judgment reserved.
Originally, the Attorney-General’s department refused aid saying there were no significant new points of law or public interest in the case.
The reversal of the Government’s position was made public in the House of Representatives this week by the Deputy Prime Minister, Kim Beazley.
Mr Beazley was responding to National Party MP Ian Sinclair who had drawn a comparison with legal funding for Health Minister Carmen Lawrence which followed media commentary making the same comparison.
Mr Kelson and Mr McKernan have said the MPRA report had affected their careers and had arisen out of the performance of their duties as public servants. It had been made after a unique ministerial reference taking the MPRA out of its usual role of defending individual public servants facing discipline into one of inquiring into and making adverse about the conduct of individual managers.
They say they were not given a chance to respond to adverse allegations against them before the report was made. The MPRA says it followed proper public service procedures.