Elizabeth O'Keeffe

O'Keeffe was the Executive Director (i.e. Chief Executive Officer) of Land Victoria from early 1990s to 2002. Land Victoria (now called Land Use Victoria) is the land authority for the State Government of Victoria in Australia.

O’Keeffe's leadership of Land Victoria was raised in the Victorian Parliament by Opposition environment spokesman Victor Perton on 17 April 2002 for her leading role in the Estate Agents Guarantee Fund scandal. Specifically, Perton reported that Land Victoria and the Department of Justice (DoJ) had "conspired to invent a 'survey reform' project to extract $7.5 million from the fund. Land Victoria, a division of DNRE, under direction of O’Keeffe, and in collaboration with DoJ, was reported to have attempted to create “the survey project” to obtain extra government funding through EAGF, despite already having been funded.[3] The administration of EAGF was under DoJ.

O’Keeffe's role in the EAGF scandal was reported to have also involved obtaining high level political approval for wrongful access to EAGF funds between October and December 2000. This included “invention” of a $1.5 million “fraudulent survey project” as well as “other funds hidden away in smaller applications” totalling $7.5 million. It was also reported that the survey project proposal was not revealed by O’Keeffe to the Surveyor-General of Victoria. Perton reported that efforts by the Surveyor-General, Keith Bell, to raise his concerns about the attempts to obtain funds inappropriately from EAGF through his office resulted in the Surveyor-General being threatened and intimidated by O'Keeffe.[4] It was later reported that the Surveyor-General had earlier reported his concerns to the Auditor-General who stepped in to prevent it from proceeding. The Surveyor-General also reported his concerns to the Ombudsman. Perton, in April 2002 in Parliament and earlier in the media, quoted "from documents from 2001 in which the assistant director of land records and information services, Ivan Powell, talks of having 'invented some benefits' in regards to the project and of a request to 'invent another layer of detail'. Powell was a senior Land Registry official (under Land Victoria).[5][3] Perton reported to the Parliament that O’Keeffe was acting with the full support of the responsible Minister, Sherryl Garbutt. Garbutt, the Minister for Conservation and Environment, to which Land Victoria was accountable. Further, Perton reported that investigations by the Auditor-General and by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (Deloitte) were not willingly assisted by O’Keeffe and Land Victoria. Requests for information and assistance by Deloitte's were blocked by Land Victoria. Perton reported that on 31 May 2001, Deloitte requested information from Land Victoria. In response, O’Keeffe's subordinate, John Hartigan, Director of the Land Registry (under Land Victoria) directed all staff to not comply with any request for information from Deloitte.[4]

Perton reported that the Surveyor-General initially raised his concerns of the proposal to obtain funds from EAGF on 7 March 2001. His concerns were dismissed by O’Keeffe who “responded in threatening terms” that he was accountable to Garbutt and the Secretary through O’Keeffe and Hartigan. The Secretary was Chloe Munro.[4]

A subsequent investigation by the State Ombudsman, “A conspiracy between members of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and of the Department of Justice to defraud the Estate Agents Guarantee Fund” found the attempt represented a conflict of interest and was not ethical. The Ombudsman advised two whistle-blowers had come forward to his office which led to his investigation in accordance with ‘public interest disclosures’ under section 50 the Whistle-blowers Protection Act 2001 and launched on 19 June 2002. The Ombudsman found that the "projectising" of the survey function was little more than a scheme to obtain additional funding, despite already being appropriated. The Ombudsman concluded: “Finally, the allegations that arose when this matter was placed under scrutiny ought to stand as a warning to those entrusted with determining the eligibility of applicants and/or programmes for funding from the various Statutory Trust Funds.” [6]

Perton also reported to the Parliament that this was not the first attempt by Land Victoria to illegally obtain funds from the EAGF. The Auditor-General had prevented an earlier attempt by O’Keeffe-led Land Victoria and the Department of Justice to “raid the EAGF of $45 million".[4]

On 12 July 2002, the prominent Melbourne newspaper, The Age, reported that O’Keeffe had resigned and further reported that the Opposition claimed O’Keeffe had been sacked. Minister Garbutt denied that O'Keeffe had been sacked.[7] The same day, O’Keeffe issued an internal memo, copied to all DNRE staff, dismissing the Opposition claims and advising she had instructed her lawyers to seek an unconditional retraction and apology from the Opposition and media. Also, she advised she would take legal action on any further claims.[8]

The Opposition frequently raised its concerns regarding O’Keeffe's performance as the Executive Director of Land Victoria especially on matters of governance and accountability during the period 2001–02. She was especially cited for her interference with, including threats and intimidation of, the Surveyor-General in the performance of his responsibilities. Such interference included: attempts to block or alter annual Surveyor-General reports; hiring of private investigators to investigate the Surveyor-General and his office; the contracting of the ASIBA lobbyist to discredit the Surveyor-General; and efforts to interfere with the Surveyor-General's review of State electoral boundaries in his capacity as an Electoral Boundaries Commissioner. Over the period 2001–04, The Age, Herald Sun and ABC carried numerous reports of such interference and it was frequently raised by the Opposition in both Houses of the Parliament of Victoria reported in Hansard. Such public reporting continued well after O’Keeffe departed Land Victoria in August 2002.[9]

O’Keeffe was a member of the Spatial Information Industry Action Agenda Steering Group, representing the Australian New Zealand Land Information Council (ANZLIC). Warren Entsch, then Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry, Science and Resources, officially welcomed the establishment of a steering group to drive the Spatial Information Industry Action Agenda in November 2000.[10] The Action Agenda was released in September 2001.[11]

Under the Spatial Information Industry Action Agenda, on 25 September 2001, then Minister for Industry, Science and Resources, Senator Nick Minchin announced a $2 million Grant to a consortium of private “spatial firms” to increase the effectiveness of spatial information.[12] ASIBA was identified as the industry body to lead most of the responsibility under the action agenda. Minchin also identified the key intergovernmental roles of ANZLIC under the Action Agenda.[13]

O’Keeffe represented ANZLIC which was then chaired by Warwick Watkins from the late 1990s until 2011, when he was found guilty of corruption by the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and sacked from government.[14][15][16][17] In late 2001, O’Keeffe approved a $100,000 contract for a consultant to “lobby her own Minister” Sherryl Garbutt. The lobbyist, from ASIBA, was tasked with lobbying the Minister to support the Spatial Action Agenda and to discredit the then Surveyor General of Victoria. ASIBA later became known as the Spatial Information Business Association SIBA. Various reports in the media and Parliament advise that O'Keeffe's Land Victoria lobbying contract with ASIBA was considered an inappropriate use of public funds and it was cancelled after a public outcry, with only the first tranche of $25,000 paid.[4]

She was subsequently the Chief Operating Officer of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) from August 2002 until September 2005. She also served as Secretary to the NGV Council of Trustees.[18] The Age reported 7 January 2004 on a potential cover-up at the NGV when a glass panel in the roof shattered in late 2003 following the re-opening after almost 4 years of closure for renovations. "The gallery has been warned that more glass panels - a feature of the recently reopened gallery's $168 million redesign - could shatter.” O’Keeffe advised that a preliminary report had speculated that the breakage might have been caused by extreme heat combined with chemical reactions in the glass.[19] O’Keeffe was interviewed on ABC Radio Melbourne, on 7 July 2004, to explain that there was no danger to the public. However, she was contradicted by members of the public raising their own experiences at the Gallery. O’Keeffe was described by ABC as having a “bad day” due to her lack of understanding of the issues and dangers.[20] On 9 February 2004, it was the NGV's Director, rather than O’Keeffe, who announced NGV and Major Projects Victoria Department had ordered an engineering audit of the Gallery.[21] [22] [23] The NGV, in its 2003-04 Annual Report acknowledged the adverse media attention that the glass shattering had attracted.[24]

O’Keeffe subsequently worked as a strategic management consultant and also for Transparency International Australia as a Director from 7 August 2006 to 20 November 2014.[25][26] In November 2012, O’Keeffe was especially critical of the Victorian State Government under then Premier Ted Baillieu regarding whistleblower complaints about politicians. O'Keeffe's role on Transparency International came after the Victorian government EAGF funds scandals and the intimidation and threatening of senior officials such as the Surveyor-General.[27] O’Keeffe, also appeared as a witness on behalf of Transparency International, before the Victorian Parliament Law Reform Committee on 29 June 2009, regarding the Inquiry into review of the Members of Parliament (Register of Interests) Act. She reported on the roles of Transparency International in reporting on corruption and presented her views.[28]