“I’ve had some dark moments. It’s taken a huge toll on my mental health. I couldn’t work. I couldn’t sleep and my health spiralled into what I describe as a devastating situation,” he said in June 2019.
He said they were told to start issuing “standard garnishee” notices to meet ATO revenue targets.
A garnishee is a tool that allows the ATO to seize funds from the bank accounts of taxpayers who had been assessed to owe the ATO money,sometimes without their knowledge.
The allegations sparked several investigations into the ATO that resulted in both sides of politics announcing policies to improve the lot of small businesses when they are dealing with the tax office.
Days before he went public his home was raided by the AFP and the ATO,which alleged in a warrant he had illegally taken copies of taxpayer information,photos of ATO computer screens or emails and voice recordings.
Well before Mr Boyle went public he had made a public interest disclosure to the ATO about his concerns about the inappropriate use of ATO powers. Those concerns were dismissed by the ATO,which prompted him to go public at great risk to himself.
Senator Rex Patrick,who has spent the past few years fighting for justice for Mr Boyle said if the ATO had only done its job properly none of the alleged activities would have occurred.
Senator Patrick said he welcomed the CDPP’s decision to reconsider the prosecution of Mr Boyle,saying a huge injustice would occur if the prosecution were allowed to continue.
“It is not in the public interest to prosecute whistleblowers. Mr Boyle is not out of the woods yet,but the CDDP’s reconsideration of the prosecution is a very good start.”
He said an in-camera investigation by the Senate Economics Committee which he initiated and participated in found that the ATO’s investigation into Mr Boyle’s public interest disclosure was “superficial”.
“But for the superficial nature of the ATO’s investigation,the events that followed that led to the charges would never have occurred,” he said.
Loading
Whistleblower expert,AJ Brown,a professor of public policy and law at Griffith University,and a board member of Transparency International,said the decision of the DPP is one of the most important it can make,possibly in the history of public integrity at the Commonwealth level,since the Public Interest Disclosure (PID) Act was passed in 2013.
“Whatever the CDPP decides,this will be - or perhaps already is - a hugely important test case for when,how and why it is important for justified whistleblowing by federal public servants to be protected. As was intended by the 2013 legislation,and remains strongly supported across the political spectrum,and by the wider public,as the government considers reform to further strengthen the Act. For all the right reasons,” he said.
“Why it has taken the CDPP and ATO so long to recognise the weakness of the ATO case,should perhaps be the next big question.”
Before becoming a senator in 2017,Senator Patrick was Nick Xenophon’s senior adviser and played an integral role in a deal struck to improve whistleblower protections. However,there is still a long way to go in this country to improve protections. How Mr Boyle is treated could be the start.
Business Briefing
Start the day with major stories,exclusive coverage and expert opinion from our leading business journalists delivered to your inbox.Sign up here.