FED: Anderson praises staffers but says they had to go

AAP General News (Australia)
02-12-2001
FED: Anderson praises staffers but says they had to go

Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister JOHN ANDERSON has sung the praises of
the two staffers he sacked.

Mr ANDERSON denies the staffers have been made scapegoats for a blunder on road funding,
saying he'll sorely miss them.

Principal adviser STEPHEN OXLEY and land transport adviser PETER WALSH were both axed
for not alerting him to a failure by successive governments to adhere to road funding
laws.

Mr ANDERSON says while both men are honourable and have great capability, critical
information was not made available to him.

The two advisers were sacked after an Auditor-General's report found successive governments
had failed to comply with a legal requirement to inform parliament.

The Auditor-General estimated a shortfall of about $2.9 billion over several years.

AAP RTV maur/jjs/jtb/rsm

KEYWORD: ROADS ANDERSON (SYDNEY)

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