Controller General-1867

In January 31/67 FitzGerald was appointed to the office of Controller General, which in '72 was enlarged into "Commissioner of Audit' and in '78 into "Controller and Auditor General" and he held this office until his death, making one short visit to England in '82.

Capt. Adams of the "Matoaka" was at Lyttelton with his ship when FitzGerald left for Wellington to take up his new appointment. He left with his ship a few days afterwards for England and was never heard of again.

In the administration of the office of auditor he defined the duty of the guardian of the Public Purse as a charge to prevent fraud, and to encourage an offender to restore what he had fraudulently taken before compelling the dept, to resort to a prosecution. In his view reparation and repentance were of more concern to the country and of more permanent value to the individual than the scandal of exposure and the degradation of a criminal, and the office is administered upon the same principles to-day.

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During his term in the Public service of the Colony he was commissioned "by several successive governments to draw important Policy Bills; amongst others he drafted the Public Works Act of '76 which was brought into operation by the late Sir Julius Vogel, and he was appointed a special Commissioner to report upon the audit systems of the neighbouring colonies of Australia, the result of which is embodied in a bulky departmental return.