Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question. The simple answer is: because I was only aware of one of the calls. The buck stops with me on this issue. But, in the first instance, calls on SAS pay problems go to my colleague the Minister for Defence Science and Personnel. I had feedback about one phone call. From there, there is a set process. They are referred to the department for investigation and action. The important thing here, of course, is that these phone calls came in February. When learning of this problem last year, in October, I put an immediate stop on the recovery payments.

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