Sherryl Garbutt

{{Infobox officeholder

|honorific-prefix = The Honourable

|name = Sherryl Garbutt

|honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|OAM|JP}}

|image =

|alt =

|caption =

|office = Minister for Community Services

|term_start = 11 February 2002

|term_end = 1 December 2006

|predecessor = Christine Campbell

|successor = Gavin Jennings

|office1 = Minister for Environment and Conservation

|term_start1 = 21 October 1999

|term_end1 = 1 December 2006

|predecessor1 = Marie Tehan

|successor1 = John Thwaites

|office2 = Minister for Women's Affairs

|term_start2 = 21 October 1999

|term_end2 = 11 February 2002

|predecessor2 = Jan Wade

|successor2 = Mary Delahunty

|constituency_AM3 = Bundoora

|assembly3 = Victorian Legislative

|term_start3 = 3 October 1992

|term_end3 = 24 November 2006

|predecessor3 = John Cain

|successor3 = Colin Brooks

|constituency_AM4 = Greensborough

|assembly4 = Victorian Legislative

|term_start4 = 15 April 1989

|term_end4 = 2 October 1992

|predecessor4 = Pauline Toner

|successor4 = District abolished

|prior_term =

|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1948|05|05}}

|birth_place = Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

|death_date =

|death_place =

|restingplace =

|restingplacecoordinates =

|birthname =

|nationality = Australian

|party = Labor Party

|spouse =

|alma_mater = University of Melbourne
La Trobe University

|occupation = Teacher

}}

Sherryl Maree Garbutt (born 5 May 1948) is a former Australian politician.

Early life

Born in Melbourne, Victoria, Garbutt attended Oak Park High School before receiving her tertiary education at the University of Melbourne (Bachelor of Arts 1968, Diploma of Education 1969) and at La Trobe University (Bachelor of Education 1979). She is also a Justice of the Peace. In 1970 she became a secondary school teacher, and from 1982 to 1989 she was electorate officer to state Labor minister Pauline Toner.{{Cite re-member |num2=249 |name=Sherryl Maree Garbutt |access-date=25 August 2022}}

Career

In 1989, Garbutt succeeded Toner in the seat of Greensborough in a by-election. In 1992 her seat was abolished and she transferred to Bundoora. She also entered the shadow ministry that year, serving as Shadow Minister for Community Services (1992–96), Women's Affairs (1993–96), Environment, Conservation and Land Management (1996–99), and Water Resources (1997–99). When Labor won office under Steve Bracks in 1999, she became Minister for Women's Affairs, Environment and Conservation. Although she remained Minister for Environment and Conservation, Garbutt lost responsibility for Land Victoria in the reshuffled Bracks Cabinet following the 2002 elections. Land Victoria was assigned to Planning Minister Mary Delahunty. In 2002 she transferred to Community Services. She retired in 2006.

Garbutt was inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2016.{{Cite web |title=Victoria Honours Twenty Remarkable Women |url=https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/victoria-honours-twenty-remarkable-women/ |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=Premier of Victoria |language=en-AU}} She was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2020 Australia Day Honours for her "service to the people and Parliament of Victoria".{{Cite web |title=Ms Sherryl Maree GARBUTT |url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/2005981 |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=Australian Honours Search Facility}}

Concerns Raised During Tenure as Minister for Environment, Conservation and Land Management 1999-2002

During Garbutt's tenure as Minister for Environment, Conservation and Land Management, there were many controversies, especially concerning Land Victoria under Executive Director Elizabeth O'Keeffe, a division of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) under Secretary Chloe Munro. Significantly, there were recurrent disagreements with key senior and statutory officers including Land Registrar and other senior Land Registry officials, the Surveyor-General and the Valuer-General, as well as serious governance issues were raised repeatedly. Throughout these, both Minister Garbutt and Secretary Munro continued to give strong support to O’Keeffe, despite the frequent concerns raised by the State opposition and the media. More importantly, even investigations by the Auditor-General and the Ombudsman were largely ignored or dismissed. Further, opinions of the Victorian Government Solicitor were ignored. Notable concerns raised about O’Keeffe's leadership of Land Victoria included: 1. Estate Agency Guarantee Fund scandal; 2. Threats and intimidation of the Surveyor-General; 3. Reassign statutory responsibilities of Surveyor-General to other units of Land Victoria, breaching legislation - including the contracting for Vicmap property database, Measurement Calibration, Survey Control Network, GPS Base Station network (CORS); 4. Weakening the Office of the Valuer-General and downgrading the statutory position - during the term of Jack Dunham who served as Valuer-General for the period 1995–2007.; 5. Blocking independent expert investigations concerning the Lindsay Fox Portsea land-grabbing complaints; 6. Interference with the Victorian electoral boundary re-distribution process; 7. Threats of legal action to intimidate staff of Land Victoria.Hansard, Legislative Assembly, 17 April 2002, pp861-863, Grievances, Victor Perton, https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/4affe3/globalassets/hansard-historical-documents/weekly/2002/20020416-20020418-hansard-la.pdf{{Cite web |date=2002-11-25 |title=Land chief under pressure, say Libs |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/land-chief-under-pressure-say-libs-20021125-gdutxx.html |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=The Age |language=en}}{{cite web |title=Summary of the Report on an Investigation Into Allegations of a Conspiracy Between Members of the Then Department of Natural Resources And Environment and of the Department of Justice to Defraud the Estate Agents Guarantee Fund, Report of the Ombudsman |date=April 2003 |url=https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/papers/govpub/VPARL2003-06No12.pdf}}Hansard 25 May 2004, pp1396-, Legislative Assembly, Surveying Bill Second Reading,

https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/4affe3/globalassets/hansard-historical-documents/weekly/2004/20040525-20040527-hansard-la.pdf{{cite web |publisher=The Age |title=The Warning Bell of Censorship |date=19 December 2003 |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/the-warning-bell-of-censorship-20031219-gdwyqh.html}}{{cite web |publisher=The Age |title=Land watchdog fears for future |date=23 June 2002 |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/land-watchdog-fears-for-future-20020623-gdubra.html}}Presentation by the Valuer-General, Robert Marsh, 22 January 2019 The Genesis of Valuer General Victoria, https://www.finpro.org.au/wp-content/uploads/pdf/FinPro-22-February-2019-Valuer-General-Part-1.pdf2001-2002 Annual Report by the Surveyor General Of Victoria on the Administration of the Survey Co-Ordination Act 1958, Keith C. Bell, RFD, Surveyor General of Victoria, Parliament of Victoria, https://www.vgls.vic.gov.au/client/en_AU/search/asset/1265623/0{{Cite web |date=2013-02-13 |title=GRAHAME SEARLE |url=https://thewest.com.au/news/grahame-searle-ng-ya-282156 |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=The West Australian |language=en}}DOLA Annual Report 2001-02, https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/publications/tabledpapers.nsf/displaypaper/3620440a3bcd138e36fa82a048256c68002741f3/$file/dola_annual_report_lowres.pdfOSGV emails 1997-2000 Bremer, Fennell and Bell, Land Victoria, DENR{{cite web |publisher=The Age |date=9 October 2022 |title=Sand survey may scupper Lindsay Fox's bid for more beach at Portsea |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/sand-survey-may-scupper-lindsay-fox-s-bid-for-more-beach-at-portsea-20221006-p5bnr8.html}}

Given that Victoria has a Westminster-style government, ministers are accountable, that is, they bear ultimate responsibility for all actions under their ministry during their tenure as minister– individual ministerial responsibility. As such, the actions under DNRE and its division Land Victoria, were the responsibility of Garbutt.

=Parliament's Public Accounts and Estimates Committee inquiry=

As Minister for Environment and Conservation, Garbutt was subject to scrutiny by the Parliament's Public Accounts and Estimates Committee (PAEC) inquiry into the 2002–03 budget estimates of 25 June 2002 concerning her failure to table the 1999–2000 and 2000–01 Reports of the Surveyor-General of Victoria, Keith Clifford Bell, as required under the Survey Coordination Act (1958).Public Accounts and Estimates Committee, Inquiry into 2002–03 Budget Estimates Melbourne, 25 June 2002, https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/archive/paec/inquiries/budgetestimates_2002-3/transcripts/PAEC-Transcript_EnvironmentConservation_25-06-2002.pdf Although she advised the PAEC that the reports were not tabled as she considered them inaccurate, she was unable to provide any details of inaccuracies. Garbutt was also interviewed on ABC Radio by Virginia Trioli on 1 July 2002 and again claimed that the Surveyor-General's reports were inaccurate, but was unable to provide any details of her claims.REHAME Transcript, ABC Radio Statewide, 5.10pm, 1 July 2002 The reports were subsequently tabled without alteration, and Garbutt made no further claims of inaccuracies. Garbutt had received her advice on unsubstantiated inaccuracies in the Surveyor-General's reports from O'Keeffe and sanctioned by Munro. From the outset, both the Victorian Government Solicitor and the Auditor-General, had advised that such reports should be tabled without interference. Matters raised by the Surveyor-General were also reported in the Auditor-General's own investigations and confirmed.Parliament of Victoria, Hansard, Legislative Assembly, Book 6, 25, 26 and 27 May 2004, https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/downloadhansard/pdf/Assembly/Autumn%202004/Assembly%20Autumn%20Weekly%20Book%206%202004.pdf

=Auditor-General's investigation=

Concerns raised in the Surveyor-General's reports were confirmed by the Auditor-General, who in 2002 reviewed the functions and responsibilities of the Surveyor-General. The Surveyor-General reported to Garbutt and was under Land Victoria for administration, a responsibility of Garbutt. The Auditor-General identified the interference by Land Victoria in the performance of the Surveyor-General's responsibilities, including the wrongful transfer of the Surveyor-General's responsibilities to other units of Land Victoria outside of the Office of Surveyor-General, viz. the Land Information Group under its then Director, Stephen Jacoby . The Auditor-General advised that the Surveyor-General's responsibilities could not be transferred without legislative mandate, consistent with the opinion of the Victorian Government Solicitor. The Auditor-General found that the transfer of the functions of the Surveyor-General had seen them delivered unsatisfactorily by the Land Information Group, and failing to meet the legislative obligations.{{cite web| url = https://www.theage.com.au/national/land-chief-under-pressure-say-libs-20021125-gdutxx.html| title = Land chief under pressure, say Libs| date = 25 November 2002}} The Opposition directed all blame for concerns to Minister Garbutt, and emphasized the extreme political interference in the performance of the statutory functions of the Surveyor-General by Garbutt, DNRE Secretary Munro and Land Victoria senior management under Executive Director O'Keeffe.Parliament of Victoria, Hansard, Legislative Assembly, 16, 17 and 18 April 2002, https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/downloadhansard/pdf/Assembly/Autumn%202002/Assembly%20Autumn%20Parlynet%20Weekly%20Book%204%202002.pdf Such interference included: attempts to block or alter annual reports from the Surveyor-General; threats and intimidation especially by O'Keeffe; hiring of private investigators to investigate the Surveyor-General and his office; and efforts to interfere with his review of State electoral boundaries in his capacity as an Electoral Boundaries Commissioner.

=Estate Agents Guarantee Fund=

Further concerns about Garbutt were raised in the Parliament on 17 April 2002 and again on 17 October 2002 by Opposition environment spokesman Victor Perton regarding the attempted misuse of millions of dollars from the Estate Agents Guarantee Fund (EAGF) by Land Victoria and the Department of Justice (DoJ). Specifically, Perton reported that Land Victoria and the Department of Justice had "conspired to invent a 'survey reform' project to win $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. The administration of EAGF was under DoJ. It was later reported that the Surveyor-General had reported his concerns to the Auditor-General who stepped in to prevent it 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).{{cite news |title=$7m project 'invented' |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/7m-project-invented-20020418-gdu4xb.html |work=The Age |date=18 April 2002 |language=en}}Parliament of Victoria, Hansard, Legislative Assembly, 17 April 2002 (extract from Book 4), https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/downloadhansard/pdf/Assembly/Autumn%202002/Assembly%20Parlynet%20Extract%2017%20April%202002%20from%20Book%204.pdfParliament of Victoria, Hansard, Legislative Assembly, 17 October 2002 (extract from Book 3), https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/downloadhansard/pdf/Assembly/Spring%202002/Assembly%20Parlynet%20Extract%2017%20October%202002%20from%20Book%203.pdf

=The ASIBA Lobbying Contract=

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 and was reported in Hansard. It was also reported that O’Keeffe had approved an illegal $100,000 contract for a consultant to "lobby her own Minister" Garbutt to discredit the Surveyor-General. The contract was signed with the Australian Spatial Information Business Association (ASIBA), later known as the Spatial Information Business Association (SIBA) and now the Geospatial Council of Australia (GCA). GCA also includes the former Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI). The contract was agreed between O'Keeffe and ASIBA, and presumedly with the concurrence of Garbutt and Munro. Following recurrent adverse media and Opposition reporting of the contract being illegal, the contract was found to be inappropriate and was cancelled after the first tranche of $25,000 was paid to ASIBA.

=Departure of O'Keeffe=

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. 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. The media reporting of O'Keeffe's departure as a sacking continued, but there was no reported legal action taken by O'Keeffe. However, there were also further senior departures from Land Victoria throughout 2002.Estate Agents Fund Bureaucrat linked to alleged fraud bid resigns, The Age, 12 July 2002

=Melbourne’s Royal Botanical Gardens – the Great Bat Bungle=

In 2001, Garbutt, as Minister of Environment authorized the killing of flying-foxes in the Royal Botanical Gardens by the company, Wildpro. In authorizing this, Garbutt rejected her scientific ministerial committee's advice that the species was endangered, agreeing instead with the Gardens' management. Wildpro began the killings in April–May 2001. Considerable media attention and public protests ensued. The killings continued even after Garbutt was replaced by new minister John Thwaites in 2003. Subsequently, the species was declared endangered in New South Wales, and the federal Environment Minister Robert Hill intervened to prevent further killings. The Age reported Garbutt's poor decision making as “the Great Bat Bungle” where she ignored expert scientific advice. During Thwaites' tenure the flying-foxes were relocated.The Great Bat Bungle, The Melbourne Age, 21 April 2003, https://emhs.org.au/system/files/catalogue/pdf_files/emvf0138.pdf

{{Cite web |last= |date=2013-04-03 |title=Vet Ethics: Return of the bats |url=https://theveterinarian.com.au/?p=1098 |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=The Veterinarian Magazine |language=en-US}}

Concerns Raised During Tenure as Minister for Community Services 2002-2006

When in the role of Community Services Minister, Garbutt was heavily criticised by the Opposition for the Government's handling of new child-protection legislation in 2004. The Bill was introduced following the deaths of three children the previous year. However, criticism also came from both Victorian Law organization and children's groups. The criticism was on top of criticism of Garbutt and the government following the earlier leaking of the Child Protection Outcomes Report in May 2003.{{Cite news |date=2004-11-09 |title=Vic Opposition slams child protection delay |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2004-11-09/vic-opposition-slams-child-protection-delay/582484 |access-date=2024-10-16 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU}}{{Cite web |date=2005-09-09 |title=Children's bill cops criticism |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/childrens-bill-cops-criticism-20050909-ge0uab.html |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=The Age |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2003-05-21 |title=Why we must act to safeguard our most vulnerable children |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/why-we-must-act-to-safeguard-our-most-vulnerable-children-20030521-gdvqmr.html |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=The Age |language=en}}

Controversies continued during Garbutt's term as Minister for Community Services. In November 2006, Garbutt was reported to have sacked two female staff members, one who was pregnant and the other the wife of a Liberal. Both were reported as unfair dismissals.{{Cite web |last=Holroyd |first=Jane |date=2006-06-15 |title=Bracks defends minister over sackings |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/bracks-defends-minister-over-sackings-20060615-ge2iys.html |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=The Age |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Ker |first=Paul Austin and Peter |date=2006-06-15 |title=Pillow talk claim as Bracks minister accused of unfair sackings |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/pillow-talk-claim-as-bracks-minister-accused-of-unfair-sackings-20060615-ge2iue.html |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=The Age |language=en}}