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