The Canberra Liberals have alleged that Yvette Berry, ACT Minister for Education and Youth Affairs, was aware of potential problems with the Campbell Primary School procurement months before the Auditor-General’s report found the process lacked probity.

Opposition leader Elizabeth Lee said Freedom of Information documents the Liberals obtained showed Ms Berry was briefed about potential issues with the procurement and made aware of the audit in May 2021, despite the Minister stating in Annual Reports Hearings and in Question Time that she had no knowledge until the Auditor-General released the report in December.

Ms Lee claimed these documents showed that Ms Berry was either “deliberately hiding the truth or incompetent”.

Ms Berry responded that she was kept informed about the process of the audit as it occurred, but the audit report finding around lacking probity was only known when the audit was finished.

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The ACT Government announced in 2018/19 that it would spend $18.8 million to modernise Campbell Primary School, built in 1961. Out of six firms that expressed interest, two were invited to submit tenders: Lendlease Building and Manteena Commercial. Lendlease was awarded the contract for services in September 2020, and construction work began in January 2021.

The Auditor-General’s report, published in December, found that the delegate for the procurement, the Acting Executive Group Manager, Business Services Division (Education Directorate), did not deal with tenderers “fairly, impartially, and consistently”. The delegate re-weighted and re-prioritised the evaluation criteria, and placed unfair pressure on Manteena to acquire its design for less than its value.

In February, the ACT Integrity Commission called on building and construction tenderers to come forward with information about suspected improper conduct in ACT Government procurement processes.

An email from the Executive Group Manager, Business Services, to Ms Berry, dated 30 April 2021, and received by her office on 10 May, advised her that the Auditor-General would undertake an external audit in relation to CPS Building Services procurement processes:

The Liberals also state that the Education Directorate refused Manteena’s Freedom of Information request to release information regarding the Campbell Primary School procurement; the ACT Ombudsman later overturned this refusal. From the 30 April email:

“It is astounding that the minister has continually stated she had no knowledge of issues with procurements within her directorate until the Auditor-General’s report was released in December,” Ms Lee said.

“Even after the scathing report was released by the Auditor-General that says the procurement process lacked probity, the Minister still does not think there was anything wrong with the Campbell Primary procurement process.”

In February’s annual reports hearings, Education Directorate chief Katy Haire said she did not consider the Auditor-General’s report met the requirements for referral to the Integrity Commissioner: serious misconduct and corruption. Ms Berry said: “As far as I am aware, there was nothing that was done wrong, and the procurement processes were followed.”

“What we see again is a culture of secrecy within the ACT Labor-Greens Government hoping to sweep it all under the carpet,” Ms Lee said today. Chief Minister Andrew Barr and his cabinet were responsible for creating that culture, she claimed. “It has to stop.”

An ACT Government spokesperson said the Education Directorate began an external review of the probity of the Campbell Primary School modernisation procurement process based on documents identified through an FOI request.

The Freedom of Information Act 2016 provides a right of access to government information unless access to the information would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest. The government spokesperson said the Information Officer decided in February 2021 not to release information relating to Lendlease’s scores and prices because it would be prejudicial to Lendlease’s business affairs and the competitive commercial interests of the Directorate.

The Directorate was not aware of any legal action being taken against the ACT Government over the procurement process.

The Canberra Liberals’ motion last month for an independent audit of all the ACT Government’s procurement decisions over the past five years was rejected. Chris Steel, ACT Special Minister of State, said Procurement ACT had been independently reviewed last year; the ACT Integrity Commission (established in 2019) was Australia’s strongest integrity framework; and the government has improved and updated procurement frameworks and guidance. Moreover, since the ACT Government entered into 1,000 notifiable contracts each year, auditing all procurement processes “would entail a disproportionate investment of time, staffing resources, and associated costs, while pre-empting results of ongoing inquiries”.

“All Canberrans deserve to know how and why this Labor-Greens government makes decisions when it comes to spending taxpayers’ money,” Ms Lee said today.

“Safeguarding the public interest is critical and is a core duty of any government that has the privilege of making decisions that impact our city, our future, and our people.

“It is absolutely clear that Canberrans did not get the accountability, transparency, or objectivity they should expect from government procurement decisions in this case, and it raises the question: how many other procurements have there been like the Campbell Primary School project?”