Former Victorian Police Commissioner Simon Overland. Credit:Craig Abraham Opposition spokesman for government scrutiny Martin Pakula said the magnitude of the taxpayer-funded settlements would make ''corporate Australia blush''. The government's disclosure of the $12.9 million payments appeared in a one-paragraph statement under the heading ''ex-gratia payments'' on page 151 of the Department of Justice annual report for 2011/12, which was tabled in Parliament on Thursday. While the report does not identify the recipients or the amounts they received, a source with knowledge of the payments has provided additional information to The Sunday Age. In the previous financial year the Department of Justice made payouts totalling $194,000 to former staff.

Former Director of Public Prosecutions Jeremy Rapke. Credit:Angela Wylie Yesterday, a spokesman for the Baillieu government defended the size of the payouts, but refused to say how many public servants had been paid. ''All termination arrangements were reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances having regard to the individuals' years of service and entitlements,'' the spokesman said. The spokesman did not deny that Mr Rapke had been paid $8 million or that Mr Overland had received $2 million. He also refused to comment when asked by The Sunday Age if large payments had been made to avoid litigation or a political backlash. A spokeswoman for the Office of Public Prosecutions would not discuss why Mr Rapke's severance payout had not been disclosed in the department's annual report, which was also tabled in Parliament last week.

Mr Rapke was paid an annual salary of about $380,000 for his role as Director of Public Prosecutions. His termination package is believed to have been negotiated by Melbourne law firm, Arnold Bloch Leibler. Last night, Mr Pakula called for greater transparency of all ex-gratia payments made to prominent public servants. ''The undermining of the OPP and the sabotage of the chief commissioner were sordid episodes run from the heart of the Baillieu government. We already know what that interference has cost in terms of the administration of justice and now we know what it has cost taxpayers,'' Mr Pakula said. Mr Rapke resigned as Director of Public Prosecutions in May last year following a report that found he had made an ''error of judgment'' by recommending the promotion of three relatively junior lawyers to highly paid roles as associate crown prosecutors. Mr Rapke was forced to deny allegations he was involved in a sexual relationship with one of the lawyers, Diana Karamicov, but the appointments sparked a bitter internal feud between Mr Rapke and his then deputy, chief Crown Prosecutor Gavin Silbert, SC.

OPP solicitor Stephen Payne was also named in Parliament as a central figure in the campaign to undermine Mr Rapke. Mr Payne is a former colleague of Deputy Premier Peter Ryan, who admitted the pair met while he was in opposition to discuss the dysfunctional environment at the OPP under Mr Rapke's leadership. Mr Ryan has publicly denied any conflict while in government and says he exempted himself from all cabinet discussions regarding Mr Rapke. But Mr Ryan had a direct hand in the demise of Mr Overland, who resigned in June last year after being told by the Police Minister his position had become ''untenable''. Mr Overland's resignation was prompted by the release of an Ombudsman's report on the release of misleading and incomplete crime statistics before the 2010 election. But his role as Victoria's highest ranking police officer had been destabilised for months by Mr Ryan's former parliamentary secretary Bill Tilley and former political adviser Tristan Weston.

Former OPI director Michael Strong and his deputy Paul Jevtovic resigned last year, after the government announced the organisation would be replaced by an Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission. ■ chouston@theage.com.au