Senior officials involved in the upgrade of Parliament House's security doors had no idea about allegations a subcontractor was using drugs, an inquiry has heard.
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Department of Parliamentary Services secretary Robert Stefanic last month held a meeting with officials, the project manager and builder Lendlease to discuss media reports concerning Steelvision owner David Gooley.
Mr Stefanic said no one was aware of any "lifestyle" or other non-project related matters before the allegations about Mr Gooley's cocaine use and debts to Russian friends surfaced.
"All parties have confirmed they had no knowledge of any of these allegations, nor were they asked to provide comment by the journalist on those specific claims," Mr Stefanic told a Senate hearing in Canberra on Monday.
The DPS boss said Mr Gooley's role was primarily off-site, with the subcontractor required to be escorted around parliament on the few occasions he attended meetings at the building.
The new entrances on the Senate and the House of Representatives sides of the building were meant to be finished in July 2018, and were now on track to be completed by October this year.
In May last year, the department found out Steelvision, which later went bust, was struggling to meet its end of the deal and not paying suppliers.
"We were aware of performance issues with Steelvision a little before we were formally told about issues with supply payments," Mr Stefanic said.
He was not aware of other allegations surrounding Mr Gooley, including that he had pitched to colleagues about starting an Uber-style app for sex workers.
Mr Gooley last month told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age he was "no saint" and admitted to "personal vices" but denied doing drugs at work.
"I did it on occasion but certainly not at work. Do you really think I could run a business as big as Steelvision like that," Mr Gooley said.
He said he couldn't remember the "Boober" app concept but said there was "probably a market for it".
Steelvision's contract was torn up in January, with the blowout expected to cost taxpayers up to $15 million.
Mr Stefanic said the DPS had tried to help unpaid suppliers and labour hire workers explore their options to get money back from Steelvision, but were limited legally.
Senate President Scott Ryan was hopeful Lendlease, which contracted Steelvision, was among those to learn a lesson from the "embarrassing" saga.
Australian Associated Press
