The ACT's corruption watchdog says 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.
Integrity Commissioner Michael Adams KC said the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) involvement in a tender process ultimately found to have involved serious corrupt conduct was "seen to be every day, business as usual".
"And it's clear that such communications are every day. And I'm sure they don't only involve the union. They would involve the Master Builders and every other interested party," Mr Adams said.
"But this is an issue we will be looking at, I think, more closely in the lobbying inquiry. Because you need to have those communications. But how do you control them to ensure they're appropriate."
Mr Adams said this did not mean other union interventions had been successful in achieving a union-preferred outcome in a tender process.
"There were meetings between the CFMEU and the then deputy director-general. All recorded. I mean, I don't know what was said, because no records are taken of such meetings. And it's clear that such communications are every day," he said.
Mr Adams said it was difficult to see why the ACT government notified Unions ACT or the Master Builders what firms had made tender bids for government contracts.
"I do not understand why that process is undertaken. It seems to me to be just a carryover from the memorandum of understanding, because that was able to trigger a union complaint about a particular tenderer, and they were entitled to complain they haven't followed their proper industrial relations standards, so they shouldn't get this tender," Mr Adams said.
"But that process is no longer available under the [Secure Local Jobs] code, and it's difficult to see the purpose of bringing to unions' attention particular tenderers' identities."
A spokeswoman for the Master Builders ACT said after the hearing they were not notified what firms had made tender bids.
But budget estimates later heard the memorandum of understanding between the government and Unions ACT that pre-dated the Secure Local Jobs Code is still in place.
Deputy Chief Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said she had thought Unions ACT were no longer being advised of tender bids but had followed up the issue since the release of the Operation Kingfisher report.
"There are understandable reasons, given our commitment to ensuring that suppliers are treating workers fairly and abiding by their ethical obligations. I can understand the value in checking in with relevant unions that there are not existing concerns that people haven't declared through the tender process," Ms Stephen-Smith said.
"But I do think it would be timely to review the way that that mechanism works. I understand the concerns that the Integrity Commissioner has raised about that, and I will certainly be following that up."
Mr Adams also confirmed he had brought the Operation Kingfisher report, released last week, to the attention of the ACT's Chief Police Officer and the Director of Public Prosecutions "because of the criminal offences which I have said might have been committed".
"Of course, they exercise discretions on a different basis to mine, and they are governed by rules of evidence which don't govern me, so there's a different world," he said.
Mr Adams said he assumed public service heads in the ACT would read his report and follow up any issues they identified with the conduct described.
"I've assumed, also if I may say so, I don't mean to be presumptuous about this, that responsible ministers read the report and raise it with the directors-general if they consider there to be relevant issues," he said.
An ACT public service spokesperson last week said it was considering the findings of Operation Kingfisher about a former ministerial staffer who subsequently moved to a job in the Justice and Community Safety Directorate.
"The ACT public service will take appropriate steps in accordance with its employment obligations following the Integrity Commission's findings. Any further action will be determined through official processes," the spokesperson said.
Mr Adams said he thought the provision of legal expenses for public servants taking action against the commission also needed to be considered, including whether they should be required to pay back the public money if their legal challenge failed.
"If you're going to be questioned about your conduct, it's not unreasonable that you have legal assistance there, whatever the merits. But if you're going to take action, I think there has to be a merits test. And perhaps a test of what's to happen if you lose," he said.
The Integrity Commission had 12 investigations pending that all involved official conduct, an ACT budget estimates hearing was told on Tuesday.
The commission had received 11 submissions to its lobbying inquiry and expected a report to form up with some policy recommendations by the end of the calendar year.
Mr Adams said staffing was broadly sufficient for the commission's needs and throwing more people at investigations would not necessarily speed them up.
"I'm not seeing investigations that, or I'm not seeing complaints that I would investigate if I had staff. Who knows? You never know what the next telephone call will deliver," he said.
