THE Canberra Liberals are calling on the ACT government to undertake an independent audit of all procurement decisions they have made over the past five years following a report from the ACT Integrity Commission questioning the probity of the Campbell High School modernisation project.
In the report, auditor-general Michael Harris said the procurement process for the $18 million high school project “lacked probity”.
“Tenderers were not dealt with fairly, impartially and consistently,” said Mr Harris.
During annual reports hearings last week, education minister Yvette Berry said “as far as I am aware there was nothing done wrong and the procurement processes were followed”.
However, Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee has called the report “extremely concerning” and said the Canberra community deserves assurances whether this is “endemic” across ACT government procurement processes.
“It is astounding to hear the education minister say that in her view nothing was done wrong, and all processes were followed, even after the report was published,” said Ms Lee.
“An independent audit of procurement decisions made by the ACT government over the last five years is necessary to make sure the issues seen with the Campbell Primary School procurement process are not replicated across other directorates.”
Who can be trusted?
In a world of spin and confusion, there’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in Canberra.
If you trust our work online and want to enforce the power of independent voices, I invite you to make a small contribution.
Every dollar of support is invested back into our journalism to help keep citynews.com.au strong and free.
Thank you,
Ian Meikle, editor
Leave a Reply