Puplick under pressure

AIDS Trust chair Chris Puplick is to be investigated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption in relation to a claim that he gave preferential treatment to a friend who brought a case before the Anti-Discrimination Board when he (Puplick) was president. The claim, first published by The Daily Telegraph, was also the subject of an ombudsman report earlier this year. Puplick resigned as ADB president in May but issued a statement rejecting any implication that he acted improperly. In that statement, Puplick said the email record which had formed the basis of the Daily Telegraph story had been seriously misconstrued and that a number of false implications have been read into it. The executive officer of the AIDS Trust, Terry Trethowan, said no decision had been yet made about Puplick’s position as the chair of the board of governors while he faces the ICAC enquiry.