Managing Director of Tourism Australia Phillipa Harrison in 2019 (Image: AAP/Bianca De Marchi) Tourism Australia Managing Director Phillipa Harrison has been reappointed for another five-year term at the helm of the embattled agency, Crikey can reveal. Harrison’s reappointment, which the government has been keeping quiet for nearly two months, happened as her agency was being investigated by the Australian Federal Police and just weeks after she was criticised by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) for failing to immediately report potential corrupt conduct within the agency. The decision to reappoint Harrison was made by the Tourism Australia board, and Trade Minister Don Farrell told the prime minister the news on July 4, a document released to Crikey on Wednesday night under freedom of information (FOI) laws shows.
Farrell’s letter to Albanese “Tourism Australia’s board chair, Mr Michael Issenberg, has written to me informing me of the boards [sic] unanimous decision on the matter,” Farrell wrote in a letter to Anthony Albanese. The letter added Farrell “supported” the reappointment, noting Harrison was “well regarded in the industry” for her leadership during the coronavirus pandemic while Tourism Australia pivoted from attracting international tourists to promoting domestic travel. Tourism Australia scandal may involve ‘serious corrupt conduct’, NACC letter reveals Read More Crikey applied for information about the decision on July 22, af.