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AAP
AAP
Politics
Paul Osborne

Consultants sought to pass on funds to Robert: inquiry

Former Liberal MP Stuart Robert has denied helping clients of Synergy 360 gain federal contracts. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

A consulting business sought former Liberal MP Stuart Robert's support for winning government contacts by channelling money to a company linked to him, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.

The federal parliament's audit committee has been examining the links between Mr Robert - who has retired from parliament triggering a by-election in the seat of Fadden - and consultancy Synergy 360.

A document tabled under parliamentary privilege and published on Wednesday outlined evidence from Anthony Daly, who co-founded Synergy 360 in April 2017 with Kham Xaysavanh.

Mr Daly said in his evidence Synergy 360 "devised a remuneration framework to secure government contracts on behalf of their clients".

The payments comprised a one per cent success fee determined by total project value, a monthly retainer of between $10,000 and $20,000 and a five per cent allocation "specifically designed for resources and contractors".

Mr Daly said Ms Xaysavanh and company director David Milo on September 8, 2017 organised a meeting in Canberra to discuss the share ownership structure of Synergy 360.

It was at that meeting, he that it was agreed 20 per cent of Synergy 360's shares would be transferred to a company called United Marketing, controlled by John Margerison.

"Ultimately, this arrangement was designed to facilitate the flow of funds through United Marketing and onward to Stuart Robert," Mr Daly wrote.

"The main objective of this arrangement was to secure Stuart Robert's involvement and support in acquiring federal government contracts.

"Stuart Robert's political influence and connections within the government sector were deemed crucial in ensuring favourable outcomes."

Mr Robert, Ms Xaysavanh and Mr Milo have denied the former Liberal MP was helping Synergy 360 or its clients gain federal contracts.

The former minister said in a statement last year: "All departmental procurements were run with the highest levels of probity."

The parliamentary audit committee on Wednesday said it had ordered Mr Margerison to produce answers to a series of questions and appear at a hearing on July 28.

The committee said it had published the signed statement from Mr Daly "in the interests of transparency".

It has also written to all those named in the statement for their responses by July 24 and issued a sharp reminder that "interfering with or harassing witnesses in any way may be regarded as a contempt of the parliament".

The committee held an in-camera hearing with evidence given under oath by Mr Daly last week, as well as a public hearing with one of Synergy 360's clients, computer giant Infosys.

Andrew Garth, Infosys's executive vice-president, told Friday's hearing the relationship with Synergy 360 had ended while also revealing there had been 11 meetings with Mr Robert when he was minister.

The committee has sought further information from Infosys, which paid Synergy 360 about $16 million over five years for state- and federal-linked projects.

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