Expanding a primary school should be a relatively straightforward process.
The government sets aside $18 million, the Education Directorate is tasked with an open market tender, construction companies place their bids, those bids are assessed and a tender evaluation team picks the best one for the job.
But a process to award a contract to expand Campbell Primary School, which began six years ago, has become fraught with allegations of corruption and union interference.
More than four years after the contract was awarded to Lendlease, these issues are being examined by the territory's corruption watchdog.
The Auditor-General has already found the process lacked probity and it has raised questions of procurement processes in the territory.
Lendlease was awarded the contract despite Canberra-based company Manteena scoring higher by two separate tender evaluation teams.
Why directorate officials went to such lengths to award Lendlease the contract is what the ACT Integrity Commission is attempting to answer.
Over the past two weeks, lawyers have sought to defend their clients during a public submissions process. At times the hearings became tense, with Integrity Commissioner Michael Adams exclaiming at one stage there had been a "childish exchange".
While different stories and allegations have been made throughout the process, it is objectively clear that the CFMEU did not like Manteena. Whether this had any role over the decision makers in this process will ultimately need to be determined.
The mystery key witness
He is the key witness in the commission's investigation but the public does not even know his name. John Green, a pseudonym, worked in the Education Directorate's infrastructure team. Mr Green's identity has been suppressed with the commission issuing the order, which is allowed under its legislation.
He was the person responsible for writing a brief which overrode the recommendation of Manteena as the preferred tenderer from the tender evaluation team.
Mr Green also overrode the recommendation of the first team which recommended entering into negotiations with Manteena, telling the team to instead enter into a best and final offer process with both tenderers.
Before Mr Green joined the Education Directorate he was in a role in which he often came into contact with the CFMEU in connection with the Secure Local Jobs Code.
The code was established in 2018 following lobbying by the unions, including the CFMEU. Under the code, firms that go for government contracts require a certificate to show they treat workers ethically.
The code was established to replace a memorandum of understanding, signed in 2015, between the ACT government and the unions where the government was to provide a list of tenderers for each contract to Unions ACT and relevant unions.
CFMEU ACT branch secretary Zach Smith is on the secure locals jobs advisory council.
In his former role, Mr Green had run-ins with the union, he told the commission one official had allegedly told him: "my four-year-old daughter could do better than you".
It was noted in a hearing last week he had actually moved to get away from the drama but little did he know this new role was going to cause the most drama of all.
One of Mr Green's first tasks in the role was to oversee the procurement for the construction of an expansion of Campbell Primary School. The tenderers had already been shortlisted.
Mr Green told the commission during the first months of his new role he met with the CFMEU where they discussed the secure local jobs code.
He said the Campbell Primary School construction procurement was mentioned as part of this. He said former CFMEU ACT branch secretary Jason O'Mara "conveyed the notion" that Manteena were "grubs" and they should not get the job.
Mr O'Mara told the commission he did not think Manteena's safety record was up to scratch. He agreed he would have said this to Mr Green but doubts he would have told him they were not to get the job.
"I'm doubtful that I actually said they shouldn't get the job but I'm sure I was critical of their performance," he told the commission.
It was not this meeting alone that set the path for Lendlease to receive this contract but it may have informed Mr Green's decisions along the way.
The minister's office
Mr Green told the commission in late-February 2020, days after the CFMEU meeting, he had a meeting with Education Minister Yvette Berry, her then-chief of staff Josh Ceramidas and the acting Education Directorate director-general Rebecca Cross, who was in the role for only two weeks. The secure local jobs code was discussed in this meeting and how it was important to the government.
Days after this meeting Mr Green alleged he was told by Ms Cross that the minister's office did not want Manteena to get the contract. This has been strongly denied by Ms Cross with her lawyers saying if the minister's office had said this to her she would have reported this.
When Education Directorate director-general Katy Haire returned to the role in mid-March, Mr Green was overseeing the best and final offer process. During the next two months Ms Haire became the final decision maker on the Campbell project. This was never documented.
Mr Green told the commission Ms Haire had also said she received information from the minister's office that Manteena was not to get the contract. Ms Haire's lawyers have said there was no evidence to suggest this ever took place.
Following the recommendation from the second tender evaluation team, Mr Green and Ms Haire met to discuss the result. Ms Haire contacted Mr Ceramidas following this meeting to ask if the secure local jobs code was still relevant. She said she was told the criteria was "more important than ever".
Mr Green wrote a brief recommending Lendlease be awarded the contract. He made this on the basis of three criteria that weren't considered as part of the best and final offer process, this criteria was part of the secure local jobs code but only contributed to 10 per cent of the overall tender.
Both Mr Ceramidas and Ms Haire's lawyers have sought to discredit Mr Green's evidence, saying he was an unreliable witness who had changed his story and openly admitted to providing false evidence to the Auditor-General.
Counsel assisting told the commissioner there was an available finding that Mr Ceramidas' alleged involvement may have potentially been motivated by an outcome the CFMEU wanted in the context of the secure local jobs code.
Mr Ceramidas has strongly denied this and strongly denied giving any directions about which company should be awarded the contract.
The commission was shown text messages between Mr Ceramidas and Mr Smith where the Campbell procurement was briefly mentioned. An allegation they were "closer than acquaintances" has been strongly denied by Mr Ceramidas' lawyer.
During the tender process the CFMEU had also drafted a letter to the Education Directorate about Manteena. This letter was never sent.
Counsel assisting told the commission there was nothing untoward about unions advocating for changes to the secure local jobs code, saying the CFMEU's involvement was naturally political, they were a significant donor to the Labor party and lobbying was part of this effort.
Counsel assisting the commissioner, who only provides guidance and does not determine findings, have not made any allegations against Ms Berry. The Education Minister did give evidence to the commission last year, where she said she knew the CFMEU was "unhappy" with Maneena.
In an annual report hearing in 2022 Ms Berry was asked about the procurement, she said ministers were "very much at arm's length on procurement processes".
"It would be entirely inappropriate ... for a minister to interfere in any procurement process," she said.
Counsel assisting the commission, Callan O'Neill, has made allegations that Mr Green engaged in serious corrupt conduct under the Integrity Act. His lawyers have denied this.
Mr O'Neill also told the commissioner he would need to determine whether Ms Haire and Mr Ceramidas had engaged in corruption. He said this would depend on whether Mr Green's versions of events were accepted.
Findings are still a "long way off" in the investigation, which has already been taking place for more than three years, as Mr Adams combs through all the different sides of the story and establishes what version of events is the most plausible.
