The Canberra Liberals want an independent audit to examine whether union influence has cost taxpayers more in the ACT on projects funded by the federal government in the wake of corruption findings involving the CFMEU.
ACT Opposition Leader Mark Parton and the Liberals' lead Senate candidate, Nick Tyrrell, want Finance Minister and former ACT chief minister Katy Gallagher to back an audit of federal infrastructure funding administered by the territory.
"Katy Gallagher is the Finance Minister and a Labor senator for this city. She cannot tell taxpayers they are getting value for money while refusing to look. You cannot certify money you will not audit," Mr Tyrrell said in a statement.
"Canberrans deserve to know their money is clean, and so does every taxpayer in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane whose taxes help build this city. The Minister should back an audit. If she will not, she should explain why not."
The pair wrote to Senator Gallagher on July 29, calling on her to back the Australian National Audit Office to assess federal infrastructure funding awarded by the Commonwealth to the territory over the past six years.
"This is not a partisan request. It is a request that the Commonwealth satisfy itself, on behalf of the taxpayers who fund these projects, that the conduct found in one procurement has not occurred in others," the pair wrote.
The Australian Financial Review first reported Senator Gallagher had referred the letter to Infrastructure Minister Catherine King.
A spokesman for the Infrastructure Department told the newspaper the Australian National Audit Office independently determined what it investigated.
The federal government did not tolerate criminal behaviour in the construction industry, the spokesman said.
Mr Parton said the only responsible option after the ACT Integrity Commission's findings was for an assessment of whether corrupt actions to favour a union happened anywhere else.
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"This [ACT] Labor government awarded a $577 million light rail contract with no competitive tender, buried its business cases for years, and refused freedom-of-Information access to its own project costings," Mr Parton said.
"That is a pattern of secrecy, and secrecy is exactly what lets this kind of conduct go unchecked."
The Financial Review also reported the independent ACT senator, David Pocock, backed the Liberals' call for an inquiry.
"I thought some of the evidence at ACT Legislative Assembly estimates ... basically said that we don't think this is a one-off," Senator Pocock said.
"Clearly, this was done very casually, and in a way that suggests that there's potentially more to come."
The Operation Kingfisher investigation found the former head of the Education Directorate and then education minister Yvette Berry's former chief of staff had engaged in serious corrupt conduct in the handling of a primary school expansion tender.
The investigation found a top public servant and senior ministerial staffer had acted corruptly to favour the interests of the CFMEU in the awarding of the tender.
Ms Berry was cleared of wrongdoing by the corruption watchdog but resigned from cabinet, taking responsibility for her staffer's actions.
Integrity Commissioner Michael Adams last week told budget estimates it would be "unreal" to think a union's intervention that led to its preferred contractor being handed work on a primary school upgrade despite it costing more was the first time they had tried.
ACT Industrial Relations Minister Michael Pettersson on Tuesday defended his membership of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Union in the wake of the Integrity Commission's findings.
Mr Parton asked in a budget estimates hearing whether it was appropriate the Industrial Relations Minister remained a card-carrying member of the CFMEU, after last week calling for all Labor MLAs and their staff to cut up their union cards.
New Victorian Premier Ben Carroll last week announced a royal commission into the construction sector following sustained pressure on his predecessor Jacinta Allan to investigate alleged corruption involving the CFMEU on taxpayer-funded Big Build job sites.
