PUBLIC CONTRACTS – AUSTRALIA

Optus’ $1.5b in federal contracts in doubt

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Original article by Jenny Wiggins, Nicola Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 6-Nov-25

Optus is under renewed scrutiny after a mobile network outage in the Hunter Valley region on Wednesday, which prompted the telco to warn that triple-zero services in 18 postcode areas could be affected. It was Optus’s third network outage in two months, and came just days after a parliamentary committee began an inquiry into the triple-zero outage in September that has been linked to several deaths. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Communications Minister Anika Wells has indicated that Optus’s contracts with federal government agencies are likely to be reviewed. The telco’s current contracts with the Australian Tax Office and the Department of Home Affairs expire in December 2026.

CORPORATES
SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS

PM plans giant UN event despite possible COP out

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 10-Sep-25

The federal government has released tender documents for the appointment of an event manager to handle the COP31 climate change summit in 2026, even though the host nation has yet to be decided. The government’s advance planning for the summit envisions that it will be attended by more than 52,000 people, and will be bigger and more complex than any event that Australia has hosted in the past. However, Turkey remains reluctant to withdraw its rival bid to host COP31, and senior Labor figures have conceded that this makes it increasingly likely that Labor’s bid will fail.

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Consultancy firms win nearly $1bn in Australian contracts in past year despite new outsourcing rules, research shows

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Original article by Henry Belot
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 26-Aug-25

Analysis undertaken by the Parliamentary Library on behalf of the Greens shows that the value of federal government contracts with consulting firms rose to $968m in 2024-25; this is 48 per cent higher than the previous financial year. However, the value of public contracts with the four major consulting firms – PwC, KPMG, EY and Deloitte – fell from $138m in 2023-24 to $114m. Greens senator Barbara Pocock says the analysis shows that while the government claims that it is spending less on consultants, it is merely shifting these contracts from the "big four" to other firms.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY LIBRARY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ERNST AND YOUNG, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED

Offshore option as Japan frigate wins

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 6-Aug-25

Defence Minister Richard Marles has advised that a contract for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to build three general purpose frigates will be signed in early 2026. Marles says the Japanese frigate is the best option for Australia; Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems also pitched for the contract. The frigates will be built in Japan, and are slated to be delivered between 2029 and 2034. An additional eight Mogami-class frigates will be built by Austal at its Henderson shipyard in Perth. Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy has conceded that the shipyard may not be able to accommodate the first three vessels to be built in Australia, but Western Australia’s Premier Roger Cook says they must be built in his state.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE, MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES LIMITED, THYSSENKRUPP MARINE SYSTEMS, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

Roy Morgan wins three-year contract to deliver international tourism statistics for Austrade

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 31-Jul-24

From 2025, Roy Morgan will provide Austrade with the world’s best practice survey methodology, big data integration and modelling techniques to deliver accurate international tourism statistics. This is in addition to the contract to deliver domestic tourism statistics awarded to Roy Morgan earlier this year. Roy Morgan’s expertise and experience in measuring travel and tourism behaviour in depth, will provide Austrade – and its stakeholders in government and industry – with accurate tourism statistics as well as new insights and understanding of Australia’s tourism industry. Roy Morgan has a deep understanding and appreciation of the travel and tourism industry – estimated to be worth in excess of $160 billion annually – and a proven track record working with Austrade and its stakeholders. Collected via Roy Morgan’s highly trained and proficient interviewers at key international entry points around Australia, these critical tourism metrics will provide tourism organisations with data that they can rely upon and trust.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRADE

No stopping boats if you stop looking

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 30-Jul-24

New data has raised concern about Australia’s ability to detect illegal maritime arrivals. US-based Leidos is required to undertake 15,000 hours of aerial surveillance each year under its Operation Sovereign Borders contract. However, the defence company’s total flight time in 2022-23 was just 12,691 hours, which is 20.7 per cent lower than the previous year. The Senate was recently told that this had fallen by a further two per cent in the first 11 months of 2023-24. The Coalition contends that addressing the decline in aerial surveillance and maritime patrols should be a priority for new Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke.

CORPORATES
LEIDOS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS

Australian government paid millions for unusable Covid face masks from obscure online retailer

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Original article by David Conn, Christopher Knaus
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 8-Nov-23

The former Coalition government has come under renewed scrutiny over its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been revealed that the Department of Health awarded $100m worth of contracts to supply personal protective equipment to a small online retailer in April and June 2020. The contracts to supply 50 million face masks and four million isolation gowns were subsequently outsourced to two companies that are registered in Cyprus. However, some 46 million face masks were deemed to be unusable because they did not comply with quality standards. The Department of Health awarded the contracts via a limited tender.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH AND AGED CARE

Calls to ban political donations from Australia’s big four consultancies after PwC scandal

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Original article by Henry Belot
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 5-Jul-23

Analysis by the Centre for Public Integrity shows that the four consultancy firms have donated $4.3m to Labor and the Coalition over the last decade. The value of government contracts held by these firms has increased by 400 per cent over the same period. James Guthrie of Macquarie University says major political parties should not accept donations from the "big four" firms in the wake of PwC’s tax leaks scandal, particularly if they have previously received large payments for public contracts. Greens senator Barbara Pocock has also called for large consultancy firms to be banned from making political donations.

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CENTRE FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY, MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

PwC spin-off counting on census role

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Original article by Tom Burton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 28-Jun-23

PwC’s contract to run the 2021 digital census was worth nearly $40m; the firm and its technology partner Amazon Web Services had been regarded as the leading contenders to run the 2026 census prior to the tax leaks scandal. The census work would be undertaken by PwC’s public sector consulting arm, which will be sold to private equity firm Allegro Funds for just $1. Codenamed Bell, the new entity is likely to be subjected to intense scrutiny by the government authorities responsible for awarding the census contract.

CORPORATES
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, AMAZON WEB SERVICES LLC, ALLEGRO FUNDS PTY LTD

Morrison government paid corrupt businessman millions for offshore processing on Nauru

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Original article by Ben Doherty, Rafqa Touma
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 25-May-23

The former Coalition government is under scrutiny over its awarding of contracts to provide offshore processing facilities for asylum-seekers on Nauru. The Senate estimates committee has queried why the Coalition had failed to disclose that it had renewed a contract with Mozammil Gulamabbas Bhojani’s Radiance International group after the businessman had been convicted of bribing two Nauru government officials. Radiance’s contract was worth $17.5m, and continued to be paid until May 2022, nearly two years after Bhojani was given a suspended jail sentence. Its initial contract in 2016 was worth $2.5m, and had been disclosed on the AusTender website.

CORPORATES
RADIANCE INTERNATIONAL