A custom $20,000 desk made for a former senior public servant is back in use in Parliament House. (ABC News: Matthew Roberts.)
In short:
A $20,000 sit-stand desk commissioned for the former deputy secretary of the parliament's department is back in use.
The Department of Parliamentary Services will only confirm that the desk will be used by "a staff member".
What's next?
A separate investigation into the department by the National Anti-Corruption Commission is continuing.
A $20,000 custom desk built for a senior public servant working in Parliament House that had been mothballed in storage is now out of retirement.
But it remains a mystery who is using the now-infamous desk.
Senator Jane Hume uncovered the sit-stand desk during questioning of the Department of Parliamentary Services, which was part of a larger $56,000 upgrade to the office of the then-deputy secretary of that department.
Senator Hume had been told in responses to her questioning in Senate estimates that the desk was verbally commissioned in July 2021 at the request of then-secretary Rob Stefanic for his then-deputy Cate Saunders, who have both since ended their employment at parliament.
The brush box solid timber desk with brass fittings has "bespoke solution" cable runs concealed in its legs, and custom metal brackets fixing the timber to a height-adjustable frame, and has been described by the now-department boss as "beautiful".
Senator Hume made an example of the desk when criticising public service "waste" as part of the Coalition's back-to-office orders for public servants, labelling it an example of how bureaucrats did not "respect the Australian taxpayer".
"That $20,000 desk is now in storage. Having been wasteful, they now treat that waste as if it has no value. I bet the taxpayer who paid for it — any one of you — would disagree," Senator Hume said in March.
Liberal senator Jane Hume challenged the department over whether the desk had been value-for-money. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
But the Department of Parliamentary Services has since confirmed to Senator Hume that the desk is back in action.
It just won't say who is using it.
"The desk will be used by a staff member at Parliament House," a Department of Parliamentary Services spokesperson said in a statement.
Desk raised broader concerns about parliament department's culture
The nature of Mr Stefanic's and Ms Saunders' working relationship came under intense scrutiny last term, after Mr Stefanic told senators he had disclosed a conflict of interest with Ms Saunders to the head of the public service related to "perceptions of a close relationship" with his then-deputy.
Mr Stefanic last year flatly denied during Senate estimates questioning that he had ever been in a romantic relationship with Ms Saunders.
Former DPS secretary Rob Stefanic was sacked by the parliament's presiding officers. (ABC News: David Sciasci)
Ms Saunders retired in 2023, and received a $315,000 exit package on her departure, while Mr Stefanic was sacked in December after the Senate president and House of Representatives speaker jointly determined they had lost confidence in him.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission is investigating the $315,000 exit package decision, and in October raided DPS offices in relation to an investigation.
Leather bins, cocktail cabinets part of $1.5m in storage
In a list handed to Senator Hume, the department also confirmed the value of 891 other pieces of furniture that remain in Parliament House storage.
Among them are 18 leather waste paper bins, each worth $130, a $2,700 TV studio desk, cocktail cabinets each worth $2,980, dozens of lounge chairs, coffee tables and more to the tune of $1.5 million.
But prior to its withdrawal from storage, the $20,000 desk appears to have been the single highest-value item stored in that facility.
Jaala Hinchcliffe, who replaced Mr Stefanic as DPS secretary, previously said it was a "beautiful" desk and the in-house team had "done amazing work on it" as a manufacturing and restoration opportunity.
DPS secretary Jaala Hinchcliffe has said the department is examining its consultation processes for furniture in parliament. (AAP: Lukas Coch)
The department also provided an update on a second $35,000 "prototype" sit-stand desk that further raised eyebrows among senators.
That desk was reportedly commissioned to investigate a replacement for the original desks used by parliamentarians, with a number of MPs reportedly making requests for sit-stand desks.
The department said in March the desk was being designed as a solution that would maintain the "dignity" of parliament offices, after Senator Hume and Senator Richard Colbeck questioned why existing sit-stand technologies could not be used.
But Ms Hinchcliffe openly told senators in March the department was questioning the decisions that led to the $35,000 prototype, and was working through issues in its capital works program.
In a response to Senator Colbeck, the department admitted that there were $1,000 "returns" available for the current desks that allowed "a smaller surface area" to be used as sit-stand, and that a small number of these were already in use in some parliament offices.
It said $23,464 had been spent on the design work for the custom-made sit-stand desk, and another $11,895 on its construction.
The department said in March no MPs had yet received versions of the desk, but said access would be granted to MPs and senators to "have a look" at the
