Former minister says he sacked agriculture department head Paul Grimes ‘to remind him where the authority starts from’

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Barnaby Joyce once said that he sacked the head of the agriculture department Paul Grimes “to remind him where the authority starts from” and boasted he “got a lot more sense” out of bureaucrats after the firing.

The revelation was contained in a report by The Project on Monday evening, in which Joyce repeated that he did not know the directors of Eastern Australia Agriculture despite acknowledging he may have done accountancy work for the previous owner of two properties at the centre of controversial $80m water buybacks.

The then prime minister Tony Abbott sacked Grimes in March 2015 due to a lack of trust, in part due to Grimes’ concerns about a saga involving changes in Hansard to an incorrect answer given by Joyce, the former agriculture and water minister.

In a letter written before the sacking released in 2016 Grimes told Joyce he no longer had confidence in his “capacity to resolve matters relating to integrity” with Joyce.

New questions raised over calculations behind $80m water buyback Read more

At the time a spokeswoman for Joyce said the letter was not a direct insight into the working relationships of the department and the deputy prime minister.

In footage from a community forum several months ago aired on Monday, Joyce said: “Sometimes I think we’re in government, sometimes I think they’re … the Labor party are in government, but it’s not actually the case, the bureaucrats are in government every time.

“And I found out one of the only ways I could deal with them when I was the ag minister was I invited the head of the department up, brought him into my office and sacked him – just to remind him where the authority starts from.

“And then I got a lot more sense out of the rest of them, they were great.”

The Project’s Hamish Macdonald travelled to a prepoll booth in New England to question Joyce about the federal government’s $80m purchase of water from Eastern Australia Agriculture.

Joyce has maintained the buybacks were “negotiated at arm’s length” and the Coalition has referred them to the auditor general. Guardian Australia has reported he asked the department for updates and to seek his final approval before the purchase.

Asked if he had ever done work in relation to the properties, Joyce told The Project he “might have done some accountancy work” for a previous owner but it was “before they were owned by Eastern Australia Ag”.

Barnaby Joyce requested updates on $80m sale of water by Eastern Australia Agriculture Read more

“It’s like asking you did you ever work for the person who lived in your house before you owned it.”

Joyce said he had “no dealings with Eastern Australian Ag”.

“I have never met the directors of Eastern Australian Ag. I had no knowledge of the sale of anything to Eastern Australian Ag.

“If you said did I know the properties before – before they were purchased before Eastern Australian Ag – yes I did. But that was not Eastern Australian Ag.”