Australian Teacher Magazine - No.1 national education sector publication

SYDNEY- A head carpentry teacher at a TAFE college in southwest Sydney falsely claimed up to $21,000 in payments for work on his private dog kennel complex, a corruption inquiry has found.

Garrie Cooper, a former teacher at the Miller campus of the South Western Sydney Institute, together with three contractors, falsely claimed thousands of dollars to build private greyhound kennels for Mr Cooper, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) ruled on Thursday.

ICAC also found another teacher, Mark Wiseman, whose job it was to approve the claims, acted corruptly by failing to report Mr Cooper's actions.
In 2006 Mr Cooper decided to breed greyhound dogs for racing, the commission heard in March.

He entered into an agreement with greyhound trainer Harry Sarkis and employed contractors already associated with the TAFE college to build the kennel at Mr Sarkis's property in the northwestern suburb of Londonderry.

When the contractors, Anthony Fox, Keith Melia and Khai Van Tran, asked for payment, Mr Cooper told them to inflate legitimate invoices for college work to pay for the kennel.

This resulted in TAFE paying the men $20,900 for the work, which the ICAC found Mr Wiseman approved despite knowing it was a false claim.

Mr Wiseman told the ICAC in March he did not dare to speak out against the false claims.

"It was a big step to take," he said.

The ICAC also found Mr Cooper wrongly used TAFE students to unload rubbish at the site and took a window from the college for his own use.

"Mr Cooper's use of TAFE students and the window indicates an unacceptable attitude to the use of public resources and a preparedness to use those resources for his own benefit," ICAC said in a statement.

It recommends prosecution of Mr Cooper for making false payment claims and for giving false or misleading information to the commission.

- AAP