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Harrison challenges Montague to prove claims levelled against him

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Dirk Harrison
By Kimone Witter
 
Former Contractor General Dirk Harrison is calling for former National Security Minister Robert Montague to provide evidence that he knowingly recommended a person with a criminal conviction to the Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA).
 
Mr. Montague suggested in the House of Representatives on Tuesday that there was a perceived conflict of interest when Mr. Harrison made the recommendation in a letter in 2010, while he was Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions.
 
Mr. Montague said the man recommended by Mr. Harrison was one of the eight people under review in the Integrity Commission's Special Investigation Report that was tabled in Parliament in March last year.
 
Mr. Montague was for a second time addressing Parliament in relation to an addendum in the Special Investigation Report which cleared former National Security Minister Peter Bunting of allegations that he had acted improperly in the award of gun licences to men of questionable character. The addendum made no mention of Mr. Montague.
 
Speaking Wednesday on the Morning Agenda on Power 106, Mr. Harrison said Mr. Montague's version of the facts are conflated and erroneous.
 
He said when he made the recommendation for the man in question, the individual had not been convicted of an offence.
 
Mr. Harrison said he made three recommendations to the FLA in his capacity as head of the Office of the Contractor General, none of which were for persons of questionable character. 
 
"I'd like [Mr. Montague] to share with me...or show me where one of the eight persons was under investigation of questionable character. I don't recall that, but I stand to be corrected," said the former Contractor General. 
 
Mr. Montague also said he had evidence of bias against him based on correspondence in 2013 between Mr. Harrison and Mr. Bunting in relation to a firearm licence application which, he said, was not included in the Integrity Commission's Special Investigation Report.
 
He further claimed the letter was sent to Mr. Bunting's personal email.
 
But Mr. Harrison said the fact that the letter was copied to three other members of staff of the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) meant he was not attempting hide the information.
 
"Certainly, yes, Mr. Bunting is and was known to me in a personal capacity, but when I wrote to him, I wrote to him in an official capacity using the letterhead at the Office of the Contractor General. And I trust also, very importantly, you heard Mr. Montague indicate that I copied it to members of staff, so it was not something that was secret," he argued. 
 
Mr. Harrison said when he wrote the letter, he was just two weeks into his job at the OCG, so he sent the correspondence to the email address he had for Mr. Bunting at the time. 
 


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