Taxpayers to benefit from infrastructure corruption crackdown

The state’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission has asked companies and government agencies whether corruption is a problem in public sector procurement, according to questions that have been seen by The Australian Financial Review.

Previous IBAC investigations have heard that Victorian rail industry executives accepted big cash bribes in exchange for awarding contracts.

The body also wants to know how often confidential tender information is leaked before the close of a tender, and if government agencies give “unequal information” to some organisations when running tenders, and favour certain suppliers.

The results of the survey are still being compiled and are not expected to be released until November.

Infrastructure projects, which are considered prone to corruption due to their size, complexity and expense, have been singled out by IBAC as one of its priorities in its 2022-23 annual plan. The body is planning to examine the corruption risks of agencies that manage big projects which receive state and federal funding.

IBAC plans to work on corruption prevention with Victoria’s Major Transport Infrastructure Authority, which is run by director-general Corey Hannett.

The authority oversees big projects like the West Gate Tunnel motorway, which is running about $3 billion over its initial $6.7 billion budget, and the Metro Tunnel rail projects, which are also over-budget.

Adrian Dwyer, chief executive of public private body Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, said it made sense to “routinely ensure public money is invested efficiently and appropriately”.

“Any scrutiny that gives taxpayers confidence their dollars are being spent wisely is welcome,” Mr Dwyer said.

Marion Terrill, the Grattan Institute’s transport and cities program director, said Victoria had more unsolicited project proposals than either NSW or Queensland, raising questions over whether it was getting infrastructure at “the cheapest long-term cost to taxpayers”.

Corruption did not just involve direct cash benefits but also more abstract concepts like “kudos” that may have been a factor in the rail agency failing to assess alternatives to the Xerox joint venture, Mr Vazey said.

“On behalf of all Victorians, I really want to understand the process of due diligence for the $2 million trials, or the $50 million promised funding and how the technical review process that was undertaken failed to prevent such a wasted opportunity to better manage emergent risks in fixed infrastructure,” Mr Vazey said.

IBAC’s definition of corruption includes misuse of confidential information, favouring someone when hiring or allocating a contract, bribery and fraud.

Over the past eight years, state spending on big Victorian projects worth more than $100 million has risen to $106 billion from $16 billion, but the state government does not report on project performance “in a transparent way”, according to the Victorian auditor-general.

Victoria’s public sector manages almost 130 major projects, more than three times as many as it did in 2014-15.

IBAC warned Victorians on Wednesday that candidates in the upcoming state election should be alert to any attempts to “improperly influence” decisions through lobbying, pressure, favours and gifts, and to keep records of meetings.

Legislation was introduced on Wednesday in federal parliament for the Albanese government’s proposed national anti-corruption commission.