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The boss of the public service has had a report into the Australian Border Force Commissioner's personal conduct for at least five months, while the senior uniformed officer remains on paid leave earning hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Department of Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo has revealed the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLI) delivered its findings into the case of Roman Quaedvlieg in "the third quarter of last year".
Commissioner Quaedvlieg has remained on his $619,905 remuneration package since taking leave in May last year when ACLI began examining his conduct.
Appearing at a Senate estimates hearing this morning, Mr Pezzullo revealed the findings of the external investigation were handed to the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Dr Martin Parkinson.
"I've spoken with Dr Parkinson, the head of the public service, and he and I have agreed that I would advise this committee the oversight of the inquiry … is currently being managed by Dr Parkinson," Mr Pezzullo told the committee.
"ACLI doesn't charge people, nor does it conduct administrative disciplinary proceedings.
"I am saying that no inference should be drawn at all that that is at play here."
The ABC understands the Commissioner has been frustrated by the duration of the investigation, and Mr Pezzullo said he could understand why that was the case.
"It's frustrating to a lot of people but there's also people who have to discharge their duties with professionalism and conscientiously," he said.
Commissioner Quaedvlieg is believed to have now accrued more than $500,000 in salary payments including superannuation while on leave, as an external investigation into his personal conduct drags on into a new year.
The Senate committee has also been told the person responsible for "liking" a pornographic clip from the official Twitter account of the Australian Border Force Commissioner remains a mystery.
In July last year, two months after Commissioner Quaedvlieg took leave from his post as Border Force Commissioner, his Twitter account liked a tweet containing an explicit video.
Rachel Noble from the Department of Home Affairs says an ACLI investigation has been unable to determine if the action was deliberate or if the account was hacked.
"They found no evidence that Mr Quaedvlieg had used the official ABF Commissioner's Twitter account to like a tweet containing a pornographic clip from an account under the name 'Lady Mystique'.
"ACLI also found no evidence of who had liked the tweet or whether the like was accidental or intentional," Ms Noble added.
Topics: immigration, community-and-society, government-and-politics, australia
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