The ACT government was warned almost three years ago about the extent of spending by the Canberra Institute of Technology on a single consultant at a time teaching staff were facing budget cuts.
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A member of the public wrote to Chief Minister Andrew Barr about more than $1 million in contracts awarded to consultant Patrick Hollingworth, saying it was money that should be spent on teaching.
Mr Barr wrote back that he was satisfied the CIT followed the correct procurement process and backed its organisational transformation program.
Since the full scale of Mr Hollingworth's $8.5 million in CIT contracts was revealed this week, Skills Minister Chris Steel has demanded the institute justify how the contracts represent value for money and explain "the use of jargon and an ill-defined statement of requirements".
Mr Steel said this week he first personally became aware of concerns about the contracts last year and accepted an explanation offered by the institute's board.
However, in correspondence seen by The Canberra Times, the office of the ACT's then skills minister, Meegan Fitzharris, was told by a person concerned about the spending on Mr Hollingworth in June 2019.
"Staff at CIT are constantly told 'We don't have the money', while as you can clearly see funds are being spent in areas that are not benefiting direct teaching and the local community," the email said.
Ms Fitzharris' office manager acknowledged the email the following day and said the minister would respond "in the coming weeks".
Ms Fitzharris soon left the Legislative Assembly, and in her absence Mr Barr wrote back on July 23, 2019 in support of the CIT's broad program of transformation work.
"I am confident the work CIT is doing in regards to its transformation is directly benefiting teaching areas and the community by ensuring CIT is able to evolve and deliver training and skills development to the Canberra region now and into the future," Mr Barr wrote.
Mr Barr's letter was written after Mr Hollingworth was awarded more than $1.2 million worth of consulting work.
Mr Hollingworth has now been awarded more than $8.5 million in contracts by the CIT since 2017.
One contract was $10 below the $5 million that would have attracted the scrutiny of the government's procurement board. The CIT also paid Mr Hollingworth $852,500 to mentor the institute's chief executive, Leanne Cover.
Skills Minister Chris Steel wrote to the CIT board in March 2021 to demand the institute explain what it was paying Mr Hollingworth for.
The revelation Mr Steel had raised concerns about the contracts prompted the opposition to move a no-confidence motion in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, which he survived.
Mr Steel has again written to the CIT board for an explanation of what the most recent CIT consulting contract awarded to Mr Hollingworth was for.
The ACT government has urged the Auditor-General to examine the contracts, and Mr Steel has sought advice on what power he has to take action against the CIT board and its chief executive.
Mr Steel, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday and was unable to take questions from the opposition, earlier made it clear in the Legislative Assembly the government was not defending the contracts CIT had entered into.
The CIT sought to engage Mr Hollingworth on a contract without an open tender process before territory procurement officials intervened. But even then the institute's chief executive, Ms Cover, approved an unusually short open tender process that would have allowed other firms just seven days to bid for the work.
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Mr Hollingworth was able to resubmit during this short window and won the contract.
Ms Cover on Wednesday defended the most recent contract awarded to Mr Hollingworth.
"The service provision that we've been seeking has been to co-design new ways of working, new ways of getting data utilised and analysing what our students really need," Ms Cover told ABC radio.
"Already, we're starting to see the seeds of those changes happening."
Ms Cover held an all-staff video conference meeting on Friday alongside executive staff, where she is understood to have said all procurement processes had been handled appropriately.
Staff asked questions through the conferencing platform, but those questions were ignored and not addressed.
Mr Hollingworth has not responded to requests for comment.
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Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
