Govt defeated in Senate to force tabling of Chester report

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor and Publisher

9 March 2023

In what represents a highly unusual move, the Senate has ruled that Treasury must provide to Senators the hitherto confidential report covering allegations relating to the conduct of Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) deputy chair, Karen Chester.

The Treasury has until midday today (Thursday) to deliver the report which was carried out by an external law firm at a cost reported to be around $180,000.

The Senate voted to compel Treasury to release the document and, in doing so, saw the Government defeated on the floor of Senate by a combination of Coalition, Greens and cross-bench senators.

The Senate vote represents a follow-on from last week’s in Senate Estimates in which ASIC chairman, Joe Longo found himself needing to correct the record with respect to whether the confidential report had definitively made no adverse findings against Chester.

Longo told Senate Estimates that the contents of a letter from the Treasury secretary, Seven Kennedy in relation to Chester were “mixed”.

The letter from Kennedy, later provided by Longo to the Senate Committee stated that the investigation “found that many instances of alleged conduct could be wholly or partially substantiated as to the fact that specific things occurred, although in many cases recollections differed about specific conduct and its substance and significance”.

“I have concluded, having had regard to the report and advice I have received, that there is an insufficient basis on which to advise the Treasurer to take any further formal steps in this matter relating to potential actions that may be taken under Section 111 of the ASIC Act.”

“I consider that the investigation has revealed instances of conduct regarding the standards set out in the ASIC code of conduct.”