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Was the Moorebank tender corrupt?
Was the Moorebank tender corrupt?
Report questions integrity of government tendering for Moorebank Intermodel Terminal and calls for federal anti-corruption commission
A report examining the findings of tax audits into the awarding of the $2B intermodal terminal project to Qube in 2017 released last year, raises questions of corruption.
The report “Competition, Integrity and Accountability at MooreBank: Can public confidence in the Australian Government be restored?” exposes a $1.64B land deal, a failed tendering process, conflicts of interest and improper gifts.
“It shows how much private interest may be profiting from close relations to government,” the report found. “Greater scrutiny is required in Australian federal politics.”
Based on an examination of two Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) reports into Qube’s purchase of the Moorebank intermodal terminal, the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (CICTAR) noted massive concessions made to the company. It also noted Qube’s close connections to the Coalition Government.
The audit found the government’s MooreBank Intermodal Company (MIC) management identified candidates for procurement ‘by way of personal or business referrals’, the report noted.
“Two investigations by the ANAO found that the procurement process for Moorebank was non-competitive, fraught with conflicts of interest, and undermined value for taxpayer dollars,” CICTAR noted.
Competitive open tender was abandoned in favour of a no-bid contract for Qube. MIC also provided Qube rent holidays, discounts on ground rent and freedoms from competitive imperatives.
Up to April 2018 (after financial close on the Moorebank deal), at least 138 offers of gifts, benefits or hospitality were made to MIC staff. Four organisations were responsible for more than half of these offers, and 65% of the total value of these offers. These four organisations included MIC’s three key advisers and Qube.
PAUL KEATING
The Auditor-General found “[g]ifts and benefits offered by both Qube and the consulting firms were almost always directed towards senior MIC staff, and in particular, those with influence over or decision making responsibilities in regard to MIC’s contractual arrangements. Three of MIC’s most senior staff members accounted for 83% of the total offers made.”
Under the contract with Qube the Commonwealth will receive less than half of the ground rent for warehousing land than was originally expected. At the same time Qube sold land and warehouses at Moorebank to Logos Property Group for $1.65B.
Moorebank is the latest in a long list of scandals that saw publicly funded programs benefit private interests of well-connected friends and corporations, the report notes, citing:
• 70% of $1.1B community development grants benefiting the wealthiest Liberal electorates.
• $100M in community sports funding to coalition seats.
• tens of millions to NewsCorp.
Australia used to be a world leader in public integrity, CICTAR notes. Since 2014, just after the Liberal Government took power, Australia has fallen out of the top 10 least-corrupt countries. CICTAR calls for a federal ICAC.
It is a call joined by the Maritime Union. Qube ownership of the terminal is already impacting on Port Botany workers.
“In our opinion it undermines the rights of waterside workers,” said Sydney Branch Secretary Paul Keating. “Moorebank and the train connecting the terminal to the wharves will be automated and used against port workers.
“It is run by an aggressively antiunion company,” he said. “It will be used to take our work from the wharves inland.” •
