Skills Minister Chris Steel will face a no-confidence motion in the ACT Legislative Assembly, after he revealed he raised concerns about a consultant receiving contracts more than a year ago but more work was awarded to the "complexity and systems thinker".
Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee will move the motion on Wednesday, saying it was astounding Mr Steel had admitted knowing about issues with contracts awarded by the Canberra Institute of Technology to Patrick Hollingworth in March last year.
"Since that time, further CIT contracts totalling $5.5 million have been signed under this minister's watch," Ms Lee said.
"The minister must be upfront with the public about what he knew, when he knew it and how it has been allowed to continue under his watch for the last 15 months."
Ms Lee said Mr Steel had failed in his duty as Skills Minister and ACT taxpayers should be outraged at least $8.87 million had been awarded by CIT "for one person to effectively provide mentoring" to the Canberra Institute of Technology's chief executive officer.
"It is clear there is a culture of secrecy within this ACT Labor-Greens government. If the minister does not resign, the Chief Minister must sack him," she said.
Mr Steel on Tuesday urged the territory's Auditor-General to examine the series of contracts awarded to Mr Hollingworth and his companies since 2017. Mr Hollingworth was contacted for comment on Tuesday.
Mr Steel has also written to the chair of the Canberra Institute of Technology board, Craig Sloan, to explain what the contracts were for and how they presented value for money.
"What justification is there for such a large quantum of funding, at $4.99 million, being used for change management services of this nature? Were lower cost alternatives considered?" Mr Steel asked in the letter, seen by The Canberra Times.
ANALYSIS: The $4.99m question: In plain English, what is CIT paying for?
The letter revealed Mr Steel had raised concerns with the institute in March 2021 about four contracts awarded to Mr Hollingworth and had flagged concerns the contracts "may not represent efficient use of public funds in line with community expectations".
A CIT spokesman said the nature of the work required Think Garden, a company run by Mr Hollingworth, to partner with the institution "to enable it to function as a system that learns".
It said the company was required to guide and codesign with CIT in:
- "Developing system wide capabilities of situational awareness, early/weak signal detection and noise sorting;
- "Developing both context-specific and generalised responses to the multitude of situations it encounters;
- "Developing iterative capacity to cycle through adaptive/renewal processes across multiple spatial and temporal scales;
- "Using and applying the relevant knowledge, tools, artefacts and approaches in enabling CIT to become a system that learns; and
- "Using and applying the various organisational structures which promote better adherence to and governance of all the above practices."
When asked to explain what exactly this meant, the spokesman said the language was appropriate for the context.
Mr Steel came under sustained questioning in Assembly question time on Tuesday, repeatedly telling opposition members he had asked for clarification from CIT.
Mr Steel told the ACT Legislative Assembly on Tuesday afternoon that he only became aware of the $4.99 million contract on Monday.
Mr Hollingworth is described on his website as a "complexity and systems thinker" who "looks for patterns and weak signals" and "works on reconfiguring organisational dynamics".
He told a podcast in June 2017 he had worked as a consultant for more than a decade, including as an environmental consultant for large-scale oil and gas projects and mining projects to help approvals.
A biographical statement on the Think Garden website said Mr Hollingworth had "worked as a scientist across the globe for over two decades, in the last decade focusing specifically on organisational responses and adaptations to rapid change, uncertainty and complexity".
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