To be fair, claims by the ACT Liberals that Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Yvette Berry deceived Canberrans when she said she had "no knowledge" of an attempt to derail an investigation into the Campbell Primary School expansion contract are over the top.
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Chief Minister Andrew Barr and Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury have confirmed although they had been aware of the legal bid by ACT Education Directorate director-general Katy Haire to halt the ACT Integrity Commission investigation, they did not tell Ms Berry.
Mr Rattenbury chose not to do so because Ms Berry had been called to give evidence at the commission's hearings. She is a high profile and significant witness.
Her statement she did not know about Ms Haire's legal action, being bankrolled by the ACT government, has the ring of truth. At the very least it certainly qualifies as an example of plausible deniability.
That said, there are many questions to be answered about the decision to award the $18.8 million contract to Lendlease instead of local company Manteena and about the government-funded attempt to have the investigation shut down.
An education directorate official, testifying under the pseudonym "John Green", told the inquiry Manteena had emerged as the clear winner in the initial tender process. The tender evaluation team had given the local company a score of 79 out of 100 and a low risk rating compared to Lendlease's score of 52 and a medium risk rating.
Because both tenders were over the project budget the process then went to the "best and final offer" stage. This is when the directorate meets with the tenderers to discuss the scope of the project and to attempt to get the cost down.
This led to Manteena receiving a score of 69 and Lendlease's score being increased to 68. Manteena's bid came in $897,000 less than Lendlease. Despite this the contract was awarded to Lendlease.
The counsel assisting the Integrity Commissioner Callan O'Neil said at a hearing last August rumours had been circulating that unions were asking Ms Berry why Manteena was winning "all the jobs".
Manteena, which negotiates workplace agreements directly with its employees, is on the outer with the powerful ACT branch of the CFMEU as a result.
"John Green" testified he had been told by Ms Berry's chief of staff "Manteena is not to get it (the contract)". The company's industrial relations record was cited as one of the reasons.
During a hearing in December Ms Berry conceded she was aware the CFMEU was "unhappy with Manteena" but could not say how she had come by that knowledge.
She denied telling staff Manteena should not get the contract: "I just don't think it's something I would say," she said. "I don't give direction in that kind of way".
Ms Haire's legal bid to shut down an inquiry which has the potential to embarrass the Barr government greatly in an election year is being made on the grounds of "apprehended bias". Court documents show she had alleged a "breach of the rule of natural justice [was] happening or is likely to happen".
Given Ms Haire's legal costs are being met by the ACT government - reportedly because "public employees who are the subject of legal claims and inquiries arising out of the course of the performance of their duties are entitled to seek assistance" - Canberra voters are entitled to ask what is going on.
The more cynical will wonder if the ACT government has a vested interest in shutting down a probe that has the potential to open several cans of worms.
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