Frankly, this decision does not pass any fairness or probity tests.
It is extraordinary that a company created just days before tenders were opened, a company with no prior business experience, no quality-assurance accreditation, no track record, and headed by a former council employee who ‘just happened’ to be a team leader in the very engineering department that at the time of his employ was recommended for outsourcing, could not only be shortlisted ahead of several long-standing local firms with proven experience (including in council work), but actually be awarded the multimillion-dollar contract.
This decision has not only damaged community confidence in our council but also of the reputation of council staff, many of whom are understood to be appalled by the decisions taken.
Now we’re told there’s an “independent” internal legal review to be held by a top tier Melbourne legal firm, a firm that’s already on council’s payroll?
Council preaches on “process”, “transparency” and “conflict of interest” while commissioning the same lawyers it routinely pays — and refuses to answer legitimate questions.
If council is genuinely committed to transparency and restoring public trust, it must commission a fully external review, not another self-justification exercise.
Otherwise, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission should forensically investigate the circumstances surrounding this debacle.
The real problem lies not with the process itself but with the judgment and decisions taken within it.
Councillors may not have known the tenderers’ names, but senior executives should have — and that places the spotlight squarely on those responsible.
Their decision to recommend and approve this contract defies logic, reason and any sense of accountability.
On any reasonable measure their positions should be untenable.
Jim O’Connor, Shepparton
