ASTU officer George Kalinin identified as corrupt

Following Libertarian's expos'e of Capebase Pty Ltd and its close relationship with an officer of the Assisted School Travel Unit (ASTU) known as George, Carenne Gate was flooded with details about the corrupt officer.

Carenne Gate can reveal that George Kalinin, a senior transport officer at the ASTU has been heavily involved in rorts surrounding the Assisted School Travel Program (ASTP) for years.

One such rort is a system of mates rates for particular bus operators, hand selected by Kalnin himself. These rates mates were referred to as the department standard rate. The department standard rate in 2011 for a bus such as those used by Carenne Support and Capebase was $3.12 per kilometre, with a daily minimum of 100 kilometres (or $312 per day). Preferred operators such as Carenne Support, Capebase and TRAILS were paid the standard rate while other operators were not even told of its existence.

Kalinin is heavily involved in the allocation of runs at the ASTU and has rewarded his mates with lucrative runs, despite their history of major issues.

Kalinin was also known to bully drivers and operators, telling them if they complained about the system they would lose their run and it would be allocated to another operator. These re-allocations were ordinarily made to Capebase or other operators paid according to the department standard rate.

Kalinin has threatened drivers and operators who reported safety issues with both vehicles and individual students. Kalinin told these people making complaints to mind their own business and if they pushed the issue they were warned that there would be serious consequences.

Kalinin has also bullied parents, telling them if they complained too much he would just end their eligibility for transport and they would have to take their own children to school.

Numerous complaints about Kalinin have been made to both Gail Vasic (former ASTU manager) and Catherine Naismith (current ASTU manager) with no action being taken. His corrupt activities at the ASTU have been reported to politicians on both sides of the political divide and has been referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption, yet no action has been taken against him.

George Kalinin is yet another officer at the ASTU that should be in the dole queue, instead of looking after his corrupt mates.