A week after Canberra Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee revealed that the Canberra Institute of Technology had awarded more than $9 million worth of taxpayer funds in contracts to consultant Patrick Hollingworth, she remains unsatisfied with the response from both CIT and the ACT Government.

The CIT board announced earlier this week that it would hold an independent review of the procurement process – but that review will be internal, and that, Ms Lee said, “rings alarm bells”.

• CIT promises independent audit of multi-million Think Garden contract (15 June 2022)
• CIT’s $9 million contracts a concern for taxpayers (7 June 2022)

How effective and how independent would an internal review be? The tertiary institution, she claims, has “a culture of fear, of secrecy, and of retribution” that stops staff from speaking up, in case they lose their jobs; people who raise questions about the contract are shut down; and a Zoom meeting last week ignored staff concerns.

Staff members past and present have told her they fear for their jobs and reputations, Ms Lee said.

“What we have heard is it’s either one way or the highway, and they have no options, no opportunities, and no support to speak up against what they see as very questionable decisions that have been made by those who are designed to make the best decisions on their behalf…

“The fear … is so palpable that people are genuinely scared to speak up.”

If CIT goes ahead with its review, Ms Lee insists it must publish the terms of reference; protect staff who want to tell their side of the story; and have a firm timeframe.

An ACT Government spokesperson said it would welcome an independent investigation, in addition to the CIT audit. The government last week voted to invite the Auditor-General to review the contract and pursue an inquiry (amending Ms Lee’s motion for an independent, comprehensive audit by the end of September). The Liberals opposed the proposal, the government spokesperson noted.

Lee claims government response is ‘grossly inadequate’

Ms Lee has also accused government ministers of trying to escape their responsibility for the spending debacle.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr was warned about the contracts in June 2019, but said he was “confident” they would “directly benefit teaching areas and the community by ensuring CIT is able to evolve and deliver training and skills development to the Canberra region now and into the future”, the Canberra Times reported.

Skills Minister Chris Steel wrote to the CIT board about the first four contracts last year – “And yet, under his watch, further contracts worth millions were signed,” Ms Lee said.

In March, CIT signed a further contract – for $4.99 million.

“It’s now been over a week since this information has come to light to the public, and the response from the minister responsible and the Chief Minister to date has been grossly inadequate,” Ms Lee said.

Both ministers, she claimed, had “gone into hiding”; they had not explained what they knew, when they knew, or why they had allowed more multi-million contracts to be signed, “despite clear warnings”.

The Chief Minister confirmed in question time last week that the CIT board was responsible and accountable to Mr Steel, through him to the Legislative Assembly, and through the Assembly to the public, Ms Lee remarked.

Although Mr Steel wrote to the CIT last week about the latest contract, and received a response on Tuesday, Ms Lee said she had not received the copy of the letter she requested, “in the full interests of transparency”, nor had it been shared with the public – only to some media publications (including Canberra Daily).

“There is no way of escaping responsibility for both the Minister for Skills and the Chief Minister, and they must be upfront with the public,” Ms Lee said.

Mr Steel’s office said that he would provide a copy of the CIT correspondence and his response to the Clerk of the Assembly to circulate to all MLAs. His response will address the government’s view of next steps.

“Minister Steel undertook to keep members of the Assembly updated about matters relating to the CIT contracts,” a government spokesperson said.

Lee: Steel must resign

Mr Steel survived a vote of no confidence lodged by Ms Lee last week, holding him responsible for the “shocking misuse of public funds”. She claimed Mr Steel had delivered failure after failure, due to incompetence or complicity. He had, she said, “failed in his duty to the public, and must resign”.

Similarly, Liberal MLA Jeremy Hanson insisted that under Westminster conventions and the Ministerial Code of Conduct 2020, Mr Steel was answerable in relation to expenditure of public money; the CIT contracts reflected on his diligence. “Mr Steel’s actions were ineffective in preventing this further largesse.”

Mr Barr dismissed the motion as “a political stunt … a word salad of insults”, and an attempt by the Liberals to “get a ministerial scalp”.

There was, he said, no evidence to support a motion of no confidence, “the most serious motion that can be moved”.

Mr Steel, he said, was committed to his portfolio, and retained the full confidence of the Chief Minister and his colleagues.

Greens leader Shane Rattenbury and Labor MLAs Mick Gentleman and Dr Marisa Paterson also spoke in Mr Steel’s favour.

But the Canberra Liberals still want Mr Steel’s head.

“The Canberra Liberals absolutely stand by our vote of no confidence in Minister for Skills, Chris Steel,” Ms Lee said yesterday.

“At the end of the day, as much as he can say there was an independent board, we know that the board is answerable to the minister. We know that the minister asked directly of the board questions about these contracts 15 months ago, and we know that he was warned.  Ultimately, the buck stops with the minister. That is what we have in the Westminster system, and he must go.”

Lee: ACT needs independent review of government procurement

Ms Lee once more called for a thorough and independent review of ACT Government procurement for the last five years.

She introduced a motion to that effect in March, after the ACT Integrity Commissioner suspected probity problems were “likely to be endemic” in the ACT Government. Mr Steel amended her motion to reject it, noting that it would be time-consuming and expensive, and the government had improved its procurement processes.

• Liberals call for audit of ACT government procurements (1 March 2022)

But Ms Lee will not let the procurement issue rest.

“We are now on our winter recess, so we won’t be sitting until the beginning of August. If we’re having to bring motions into the Assembly on this issue come August, I will be extremely disappointed and flabbergasted that this government will not have done anything to give reassurance about what is happening with these contracts – and that will be an extremely sad situation for the whole of our city.

“There is no doubt that this is an extremely serious issue. There is no doubt that this government must take action now. And there is absolutely no doubt that if they don’t, we will continue to keep that pressure on,” Ms Lee said.