New inquiry into Campbell Primary procurement process

A LEGISLATIVE Assembly committee will conduct an inquiry into an auditor-general’s report which described the government’s procurement process for the Campbell Primary School Modernisation Project as “lacking probity.”

The Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Liberal MLA Elizabeth Kikkert, will investigate the report which questioned how tenderers were dealt with for $18 million project and which was first tabled in the assembly in December last year.

In his report, auditor-general Michael Harris said tenderers were “not dealt with fairly, impartially and consistently.”

“Manteena was identified as the preferred tenderer by two different tender evaluation teams at two key stages of the procurement process; the Request for Tender stage and the subsequent Best and Final Offer stage,” he said.

“Manteena received the highest scores against the weighted evaluation criteria and quoted a lower price for the services. Despite this Lendlease was awarded the contract for the services.

“In June 2020 the Tender Evaluation Team prepared a Tender Evaluation Report that identified Manteena as the preferred tenderer. The Delegate disagreed with the Tender Evaluation Team’s recommendation and instead recommended to the Director-General that Lendlease be identified as the preferred tenderer because they offered the ‘best value for money’.”

Since the release of the report, the ACT Integrity Commission has called for building tenderers to come forward with any suspicion of “corrupt conduct” in procurement processes.

The Inquiry committee is asking for submissions from interested organisations and individuals. More info on lodging submissions can be found here.

Information about public hearings will be announced at a later date.