A former minister has denied wrongdoing after a damning review found taxpayers forked out millions for contracts that had perceived conflicts of interest and were deemed poor value for money.
The Albanese government launched an investigation following allegations former coalition minister Stuart Robert was linked to a Canberra lobbying and consulting firm which helped companies secure lucrative contracts.
Former senior public servant Ian Watt led a task force which reviewed 95 departmental contracts from 2015 onwards.
The majority of the contracts considered during Dr Watt's review had "broadly demonstrated good practice".
But 19 contracts were flagged as needing further investigation due to a lack of appropriate record keeping.
The review found these contracts, worth $374 million, were also not considered as having delivered bang for buck.
Government Services Minister Bill Shorten said it was "well past time" for Mr Robert to explain the poor procurement processes that appeared to have happened under his watch.
"I wish the Watt review would have come back clean, we've now got 19 contracts that warrant deeper and further investigations," the minister told parliament on Monday.
But Mr Robert said the task force had not found clear misconduct and the matter should be put to rest.
"After four months, the cost to be revealed ... multiple interviews, working through multiple departments, Dr Watt has found zero misconduct upon 95 procurements," he said.
Mr Robert was appointed minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme and government services in 2019 under the former Morrison government.
