一项调查发现，某州的高级公职人员掩盖了因新冠肺炎疫情期间错误发放的企业支持付款而导致的损失，该损失疑似价值数亿美元。
Senior public servants in one state covered up losses suspected to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars arising from flawed Covid-19 business support payments, an investigation has found.
疫情期间，维多利亚州政府向9000家不符合条件的企业发放支持补助金，花费估计达2.57亿澳元。
During the pandemic, the Victorian government spent an estimated $257m on support grants to 9,000 ineligible businesses.
该州诚信监督机构的调查发现，负责发放这些付款的部门内的高级官员向上级隐瞒了损失的真实规模。
An investigation by the integrity watchdog has found senior officials within the department responsible for making those payments covered up the extent of the losses from their managers.
独立广泛反腐败委员会（IBAC）的报告指出：“这不是一次性事件，也不是由于疏忽所致。”
"This was not a one-off event, nor was it due to an oversight," the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission report reads.
报告称：“相关人员决定隐瞒损失的规模，随后在较长时间内编造并传播了误导性信息。”
"Decisions were made to withhold information about the magnitude of the loss and misleading information was subsequently created and disseminated over an extended period of time."
该报告于周四提交议会，名为“Operation Harmonia”（和谐行动）的特别报告调查了现已被取代的“就业、园区和地区部”内官员的行为。
Tabled in parliament on Thursday, the Operation Harmonia special report probed conduct by officers within the since-replaced Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions.
调查聚焦于该部门在疫情早期向不符合条件的企业发放数百万澳元支持付款的回应。
It concerned their response to revelations the department had granted millions in support payments to ineligible businesses during the early days of the pandemic.
调查发现，到2021年中，时任州长丹尼尔·安德鲁斯领导的政府部门已意识到其使用商品及服务税（GST）作为衡量标准可能存在的问题。
By mid-2021, then-premier Daniel Andrews' government department, was aware of potential issues relating to its use of GST as a metric, the investigation found.
当损失的真实规模逐渐显现，疑似高达2.85亿澳元时，助理秘书和副秘书选择向上级隐瞒该信息，报告称。
When the true scale of the losses came into view, suspected to be as high as $285m, the associate secretary and deputy secretary opted to withhold that information from their superiors, the report said.
报告指出，副秘书指示将所有关于疑似损失的信息从提交给时任产业支持与恢复部长马丁·帕库拉（Martin Pakula）以及维多利亚州审计长办公室的草案报告中删除。
The deputy secretary directed that all information about the suspected losses be wiped from a draft report to the then-minister for Industry Support and Recovery Martin Pakula and the Victorian Auditor General's Office, the report said.
IBAC发现，2022年，审计长办公室对这些补助金启动审计后，副秘书准备了一份提交给时任部长本·卡罗尔（Ben Carroll）的简报，其中包含“虚假和误导性”信息。
Ibac found that in 2022, after the auditor general opened an audit of the grants, the deputy secretary prepared a brief to then-minister Ben Carroll, which contained "false and misleading" information.
该简报声称，Carroll 的前任 Pakula 知情并批准了该部门评估拨款的做法，且没有错误付款，但 Ibac 认定“Pakula 部长‘充分知情并批准了该部门的实施方法’这一说法是不诚实的”。
That brief claimed Carroll's predecessor, Pakula, had been aware of and approved the department's approach to assessing grants and that no payments had been made in error, but Ibac found "the assertion that Minister Pakula was 'fully apprised of and approved the department's implementation approach' was disingenuous".
该监察机构未对 Carroll 作出不利认定，Carroll 现任维多利亚州州长。
The watchdog made no adverse findings against Carroll, who now serves as Victorian premier.
Ibac 委员 Victoria Elliott 表示，调查揭露的行为未达到高级公职人员的预期标准。
Ibac commissioner, Victoria Elliott, said the conduct exposed by the investigation fell short of the expectations of senior public officers.
她说：“这份特别报告揭露了高级公职人员的严重失职，将这些调查结果告知维多利亚州民众，对于促进公共部门的透明度和问责制至关重要。”
"This special report exposes serious failures by senior public officers, and informing Victorians of these findings is crucial in promoting transparency and accountability in the public sector," she said.
此次调查是在举报人提出该部门存在腐败行为指控后启动的，该部门已于 2023 年由就业、技能、工业和地区部取代。
The investigation was triggered after whistleblowers brought allegations of corrupt conduct within the department, which was replaced by the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions in 2023.
Elliot 说：“我想为在‘哈莫尼亚行动’中向 Ibac 举报的举报人鼓掌。”
"I want to applaud the whistleblowers who came forward to Ibac in Operation Harmonia," Elliot said.
“您的勇气对于确保此类行为不仅被曝光，而且维多利亚州的公共部门能够吸取这些调查结果的教训并应用到自身组织中至关重要。”
"Your bravery is critical in ensuring this conduct is not only exposed but that Victoria's public sector can take these findings and apply the learnings to their own organisations."