41. Letter to the former Head of the
Fees Office from the Commissioner, 3 August 2010
When I wrote to you on 21 July, I said that I was
copying your letter of 18 July to Mr Mackay in case he wanted
to comment on it further.
I have now heard back from Mr Mackay. Mr Mackay has
written in respect of your response as follows: "I
am pleased that he now understands the date we moved into [the
Bromsgrove property]
which means, not surprisingly given the passage of time, that
his recollection was incorrect. I also note that he thinks
'perhaps the word "retrospectively"
be deleted'.
"I have a very clear recollection of the
advice he gave me in September 1997 and that is precisely why
my first reaction was to ring him on that crucial day in May 2009.
I note you only sent him an extract from my e-mail of 13 July.
If that did not include the paragraph concerning the evidence
of the Director of Strategic Projects I believe this might have
affected answer b) [from the former Head
of the Fees Office]."
In respect of the e-mail of 13 July from Mr Mackay
to which he refers, that quoted part of a letter from the Director
of Strategic Projects in the Department of Resources. The full
relevant quotation is:
"I am afraid that we have not been able to
discover any records which would cast light on Mr Mackay's discussions
with the then head of the Fees Office in 1997 (that official retired
in 1998). Nor do we have any records which indicate that any later
consideration was given within the Department to the elections
which Mr Mackay and Ms Kirkbride made as to their main and additional
homes.
"The Department was certainly aware of the
arrangements in the sense that both Mr Mackay and Ms Kirkbride
made their declarations openly. I think that it is reasonable
for Mr Mackay to have inferred from this that the Department had
no difficulty with the arrangements."
In view of the statement in Mr Mackay's e-mail to
me of 2 August, I would be grateful to know whether the evidence
from the Director of Strategic Projects which I have quoted above
in any way causes you to modify your answer at b) in your letter
of 18 July, namely the section headed "Reference
to the Press Reports of 2009" and
indeed any other part of your evidence. Any other final points
you may wish to make would be very welcome.
I attach a typed copy of the manuscript letter you
sent me on 18 July and a copy of the full e-mail of 13 July from
Mr Mackay for convenience. I would be very grateful if you could
let me have a response to this letter within the next week so
that I can conclude my work on this inquiry. I am most grateful
for your continued help.
3 August 2010
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