Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Government Services, and I refer to the minister's answer on Tuesday. In light of Dr Watt's review into contracts and procurements, why is disclosing conflicts of interest important for public officials?

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. On Tuesday I updated the House on a matter which went to the core of the Dr Watt review into procurements at the NDIA and Services Australia. I refer to procurement contracts relating to unregistered lobbying firm Synergy 360 and multinational IT company Unisys.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Manager of Opposition Business will cease interjecting.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A key red flag of Dr Watt's review is the failure to declare conflicts both real and perceived, and so far I've been unable to locate any disclosure of the member for Fadden's relationship with Synergy 360 anywhere. Leaked emails from Unisys and Synergy 360 executives reveal how they planned to use the lobbying firm's special connection with the member for Fadden to gain special, privileged and commercially valuable access to the important ACLEI committee in parliament and also other decision-makers in government.

I quote directly from an internal email from the Unisys vice-president to Unisys head office in the States on 16 October. It glowingly reports: 'Thanks for putting this together. I told Stuart I'd get him something tonight. Tomorrow at the Joint Committee for the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity he'll be proposing the committee formally meets with Unisys for a briefing on our work with the US government.' There's another email between two of the owners of Synergy 360, on 31 October. They are excited at the big payday to be delivered by this undeclared special friendship with the member for Fadden. I quote: 'Bloody amazing, considering we only officially launched on 1 June. Some companies don't even make a profit, let alone clear $100,000 in the first three to four months. This year isn't over, so let's aim for $1 million within the financial year.' This secret, undisclosed trapdoor of influence offered Unisys boundless commercial opportunities. Unisys wrote to Mr Milo on 25 September 2017: 'I sent Stuart an email yesterday to follow up our meeting and request contact details for the appropriate person to arrange a presentation to the committee.' The email continues: 'I also asked for his thoughts on delivering a similar presentation to the National Security Committee, the NSC.'

How does a multinational company form the presumption that they can talk to the heart of our national security architecture in Australia? The NSC is not some judge of a corporate beauty parade, looking for contracts. Whatever the opposition leader and I think of each other, I know the opposition leader, who served on the NSC, does not see the NSC as some sort of trailer boot market on a Sunday, where the security of the nation has to listen to a beauty parade of commercial vendors, with a relationship not disclosed by the member for Fadden. (Time expired)