Education Minister Yvette Berry denied directing the Education Directorate head to become the decision-maker in a controversial school building project.
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Ms Berry gave evidence for the second time at the ACT Integrity Commission public examinations into the Campbell Primary School modernisation procurement after more notes from an ACT government official surfaced.
Ms Berry said she did not recall the secure local job code being discussed at a meeting on February 24, 2020, nor did she recall being concerned about the implementation of the code at the time.
"I don't believe that was something that I was particularly concerned about at the time, although post that we've heard from, I think I recall hearing from the CFMEU that they were concerned about that," Ms Berry said.
Ms Berry said she did not specifically recall the construction union passing their concerns to her.
The minister was taken to a set of handwritten notes from the acting Education Directorate director-general at the time, Rebecca Cross, which indicated a discussion with Ms Berry regarding two school contracts "not fully meeting policy on unions."
"I don't recall those conversations," Ms Berry said.
Ms Berry denied giving a direction to the Education Directorate Director-General Katy Haire to make herself the final decision maker for the procurement process.
"No, I didn't on this occasion, not at all, or actually on any occasion."
'Too brief'
Education Directorate executive group manager of business services David Matthews signed off on the tender evaluation plan for the Campbell Primary School modernisation project in July 2019.
John Green, who has been given a pseudonym, took over as delegate on the project when Mr Matthews went on leave and then returned in an acting deputy director general role.
Mr Matthews told the commission in early 2020 the Education Minister's office asked for a shortlist of tenderers on the Campbell Primary School and Throsby School projects.
Mr Matthews checked with the infrastructure and capital works steering committee that they were allowed to provide this information.
"I was told that information was public and notified to various parties and not commercially sensitive," he said.
Mr Matthews said he could not recall a meeting with the minster's office and education officials on February 24, 2020 where the secure local jobs code was discussed.
Mr Matthews said he remembered attending a "meet and greet" with officials from the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union at their Dickson office around this time.
He said he went to the meeting by himself with Jason O'Mara and Zachary Smith.
"I have a recollection that the CFMEU may have raised their views generally on various construction companies," Mr Matthews said.
Mr Matthews said he thought the secure local jobs code was raised and that the union's view was that compliance with the code wasn't tough enough.
Mr Matthews said he was unaware of what had happened in the procurement process until he read documents that were to be released through a freedom of information request in February 2021.
He said the brief written by Mr Green which gave the opinion that the Director-General, Katy Haire, should choose Lendlease over Manteena was inadequate and unclear in its reasoning.
"My general comments about this brief is that it's too brief," Mr Green said.
Mr Matthews said a meeting with Manteena executives in June 2022 occurred "under legal advice" that there was a risk that the company could pursue civil litigation against the directorate.
Dual negotiation
Major Projects Canberra project manager Kelly Young was a member of the first tender evaluation team that dealt with the Campbell Primary School project.
In a meeting on February 28, 2020, she was expecting to have the tender evaluation report signed off to enter negotiations with Manteena to try to bring the cost of the project within budget.
However, the delegate Mr Green wanted to get probity advice on starting a dual negotiation with both Lendlease and Manteena.
"I didn't understand why we were going down this track," Ms Young said.
Ms Young will return to give evidence on Wednesday.
The ACT Integrity Commission is investigating whether Education Directorate officials failed to exercise their official functions honestly and impartially while handling the procurement process for the Campbell Primary School modernisation project between 2019 and 2020.