In all my wanderings on many streets somewhere around the world, I’ve learned that every country is a study in contrast. Singapore compresses it. And the lessons were simple:
* Take your time.
* Wander the backstreets.
* Eat expensive if you can and eat cheap
* Use public transport.
* Talk to strangers.
* Walk slowly.
* Look up.
* Look down.
* Look around.
* Enjoy the local beer.
The real currency isn’t money — it’s time. And we spent it recklessly and to do so with the love of my life at my side, even better.
Until another street somewhere.
~ Once Slowly by BC
Rethinking Risks - Rise and Rise of ATO SES high-flyers
ATO chief Rob Heferen shuts down questions on failure to pursue alleged tax cheats
The man paid nearly $1m to hold Australia’s tax cheats to account has refused to explain why so many of them keep getting away with it
A simple question about alleged tax cheat Jon Adgemis can’t be answered by the tax office: is he behind a massive GST fraud?
But the question that was too rude to ask the tax office’s top regulator was whether or not it was delivering as the top cop on the beat for Australia’s tax crooks.
The job now falls to liquidators and bankruptcy trustees to unravel the secrets of the failed Adgemis pubs plaything, Public Hospitality Group, when examination of the bankrupt businessman’s affairs begins in court on Thursday.
The boss of the Australian Taxation Office was asked on Wednesday whether his agency was open and transparent in the way it engages publicly. The answer? “Yes”.
But that was all ATO commissioner Rob Heferen was willing to divulge on the sidelines of a small business summit ahead of the blockbuster hearings that will almost certainly examine the allegation of improper GST claims inside the hospitality bust-up.
That allegation was referred to the ATO by BRI Ferrier; Adgemis has previously denied that his tax affairs were improper or fraudulent. And The Australian is not suggesting Adgemis has committed fraud, only that liquidators allege concerns over GST refunds.
A simple attempt to clarify this with the ATO was met with a public relations eruption.
“It’s quite difficult to get a bit of face time with the commissioner, it seems like whenever I’ve asked to speak with the commissioner of the ATO it’s not gone anywhere,” The Australian posed to one of Australia’s top public servants.
At first Heferen said he would take some questions. When asked if the ATO was “broadly open and transparent in the way it engages publicly”, Heferen replied in the affirmative.
But when asked if the ATO “does enough on enforcement and compliance” he was less forthcoming. “This is a bit rude – this is a bit you know …” he said.
The commissioner’s minders sprung into action. Business cards were thrust forward. Requests were made for questions to be put in writing.
Heferen took on the top job at the tax office in December 2023. Since then, he has not given an interview to this journalist, nor many others who have asked for one, despite repeated requests each year.
Instead, Heferen has preferred speaking engagements and friendly publications.
This lines up with the tax office’s approach to scrutiny. Among the most powerful government agencies in the nation, the ATO has a hugely important role to play in the economy.
But instead of being upfront, the ATO has emphasised the same tired and risk-averse approach to media: questions in writing and “no comments”.
The Australian was asked to do a “quote check” with the tax office, meaning it would run the ruler over anything said by Heferen. Yet even the most basic questions about its activities, put in writing, fail to elicit a response.
Ad nauseam the ATO will wheel out its tired claims of taxpayer secrecy when asked about things that don’t relate to taxpayers.
This is typical for some members of the lanyard class.
Heferen gets paid $928,980 a year. This is almost 30 per cent more than Anthony Albanese ($607,520).
Heferen had just wrapped up speaking on a panel of regulators at the Council of Small Businesses of Australia, appearing alongside ASIC chair Sarah Court and Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth.
When asked how the ATO would tackle the Albanese government’s landmark changes to capital gains, Heferen had little to say too. Presumably he had the benefit of the questions in advance. The audience could “rest assured in very good time there will be comprehensive stuff on our website”.
Heferen was elevated to tax chief in 2023 hot on the heels of the PwC Australia scandal, a tax battle fought under his predecessor Chris Jordan and deputy Jeremy Hirschhorn. Arguably the ATO won the fight, since PwC’s tax architects are on the scrap heap.
The Adgemis bin fire leaves creditors likely to get none of their $1.8bn owed, based on the latest assessment. Yet the ATO, which forced Adgemis’s bankruptcy, had knowledge of the publican’s affairs since at least 2021.
It’s for the tax office to defend its actions to those creditors, many of whom are simply hospitality employees owed basic obligations of wages and superannuation.
