Treasury secretary Jenny Wilkinson concedes error with $2.3 billion payments for electricity relief
Treasury secretary Jenny Wilkinson has conceded she wasn’t told about her department illegally paying $2.3 billion to the states to provide electricity rebates.
These direct payments breached the Constitution because written approval was not sought from Treasurer Jim Chalmers.
In a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday morning, Ms Wilkinson conceded she had not been initially told about Treasury’s unlawful payments which occurred when she previously ran the Department of Finance up until June 2025.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“No, I wasn’t,” she said.
“This goes to internal processes. I think probably, my better view is that these sorts of matters would be brought to the secretary when they are uncovered. I don’t think there’s any reason why they shouldn’t be. That’s my honest view.”
In a long, opening statement, Ms Wilkinson defended Treasury’s handling of the matter.
“I take these matters very seriously,” she said.
“While it’s never desirable to make such an error, I am impressed with how quickly the Treasury’s staff identified the issue, advised the Treasurer, took corrective action, reviewed our systems, and clearly disclosed the breach.
“Of course, I was pleased to be reassured that at all times, the right amounts were paid to the right entities in line with the program’s legislation and in line with agreements with the states.
“Following careful consideration of this issue, I am satisfied these breaches amounted to an inadvertent oversight. No individuals are suspected of behaving improperly and all individuals co-operated constructively with the reviews we undertook.”
Shadow treasurer Ted O’Brien and Senator Paterson, the Opposition’s finance spokesman, said breaching section 83 of the Constitution “is no simple error”.
“It is a blank cheque culture inside a Government that has lost control of spending, debt and basic financial discipline,” they said in a statement on Thursday morning.
Electricity prices soared by 37.1 per cent in the year ended October 31, following the end of Queensland’s $1000 annual rebates to households and Western Australia’s equivalent $400 program when the 2024-25 financial year finished.
The Federal Government’s $300 annual rebates, in $75 quarterly instalments, were extended for another six months until the end of 2025 in the pre-election March Budget at a cost of $1.8b.
The initial program announced in the 2024 Budget was meant to last until the end of 2024-25.
