Chief Minister Andrew Barr has defended the ACT government's track record on corruption, after the territory's integrity commissioner suggested probity issues with procurement could be "endemic".
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Mr Barr said the ACT's political system and public sector stood in marked contrast to a long history of corruption in NSW.
"Compared to Macquarie Street and compared to what we've witnessed in NSW in recent times, I think that this is a government that puts integrity first, operates with integrity and ensures that the structural and organisation capacity for there to be integrity in the public sector," Mr Barr told a Legislative Assembly inquiry on Thursday afternoon.
Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee had asked the Chief Minister to reflect on the integrity of the government after the Auditor-General highlighted significant issues with the way a $17.5 million contract for a primary school was awarded.
"The reason for the establishment of the Integrity Commission was to ensure integrity in public administration. This is the commission doing its work. It's why the commission was established and I think there are obviously significant resources applied to the commission and across the public sector to ensure that there is probity in government procurement and public sector activity," Mr Barr said.
Integrity commissioner Michael Adams QC on Wednesday said probity issues with the ACT government's procurement processes were likely to be endemic but the cost to fully investigate them would be trivial compared to the money spent on the contracts.
Mr Adams on Tuesday called for people in the building and construction industry to report any instances of suspicious conduct involving government procurement.
Mr Adams said if a public appeal for information resulted in a series of significant investigations, the commission would either face significant delays in finalising its work or it would need to ask the Legislative Assembly for additional resources.
The commission is considering an investigation into the procurement process for the Campbell Primary School modernisation project, after the Auditor-General found significant shortcomings with the way its tender was handled.
The commission found there was no reasonable suspicion of corruption on the part of Mr Barr in a report, released earlier this month, into the controversial purchase of land adjacent to Glebe Park for $4.2 million.
It was the commission's first publicly released anti-corruption report since it was established in 2019.
The purchase of the block had drawn attention after it was revealed the government bought it for four times the amount of one valuation.
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