Network tender caught in tit for tat feud

The sorry tale surrounding the Prime Minister's corruption of the $223 million tender process for the Australia Network tender is evidence that when faced with a choice between a principled course of action and an unprincipled one, the Prime Minister heads for the unprincipled path.

The announcement, by way of media release on Monday evening, that the government had decided to scrap the whole tender process, is the culmination of months of unacceptable political interference by the Gillard government to avoid due process and to underhandedly manipulate an outcome.

The saga also reflects the bitter division between Julia Gillard and her Foreign Minister, Kevin Rudd, and the unacceptable lengths to which the Prime Minister is prepared to go to achieve her aims. Whatever it takes, it seems.

The facts speak for themselves.

On November 23, 2010 Mr Rudd announced that: ''The government has decided that the next Australia Network contract will be put to a competitive open tender process, to ensure the best possible service in return for its investment.''

The service is part of Australia's soft power diplomatic effort in the Asia Pacific region and responsibility for the network lay with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Having initiated a competitive tender process with an independent review mechanism, it is self evident that, in the absence of a legitimate overriding reason, the government should abide by the outcome.

Tenders, involving significant time and expense were developed by Sky News and the ABC, with both submitted before the closing date in late March 2011.

A decision was expected to be announced in early June. The deadline passed.

With mounting concern about the looming deadline of August 8 for the start of the new service, Ms Gillard's interference in the tender process became public with the release of extraordinary joint media statement on June 24, from the Prime Minister, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Communications, Senator Stephen Conroy.

That media statement included the spurious claim that events transpiring in the Middle East and North Africa necessitated that an ''. . . amended Australia Network Request for Tender will be released shortly and a decision on Preferred Tenderer is expected to be taken by September 2011''.

The Australia Network does not broadcast into the Middle East or North Africa.

It was later revealed that responsibility for the tender decision had been stripped from the Department of Foreign Affairs and handed to the Minister for Communications, the same Minister responsible for oversight of the ABC, one of the two tenderers.

While no plausible explanation was forthcoming for this decision, it was widely speculated that Kevin Rudd was supportive of the Sky News bid.

Media reports in early July suggested that the four-person review panel for the original tender had recommended Sky News as the preferred tenderer with the superior bid.

It also emerged that at least two cabinet ministers had raised concerns about alleged ''inappropriate'' lobbying, potentially in breach of tender rules, by ABC management including managing director Mark Scott.

Both tenderers resubmitted bids.

With the government refusing to answer questions in the Parliament over the fate of this publicly-funded tender, I wrote to the Auditor-General on September 24, requesting that an investigation into the probity of the tender process be undertaken. I raised the potential conflict of interest, which could arise with the Minister, who had statutory responsibility for one of the tenderers, also being the decision maker.

The Auditor-General replied on September 28 that his staff had contacted relevant departmental officials to determine the current status of the Australia Network tender process and had been advised that the process is at an ''advanced stage'' and that in view of that advice he would await the outcome before deciding to act.

The Australian newspaper reported in October that the independent review panel had again recommended that the government accept Sky News as the superior bid.

Given the malicious tit-for-tat leaking from the respective camps of the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister during last weekend's ALP national conference, it must be obvious to all by now that the leaking of confidential information regarding this tender is part of their ongoing civil war.

The government then used the smokescreen of ''leaks'' to interfere again in the tender process by claiming on November 7 that ''. . . the Australia Network tender process has been compromised to such a degree that a fair and equitable outcome may no longer be able to be achieved''.

The government then referred the matter of the leaks to the Australian Federal Police for investigation.

Senator Conroy announced a six-month extension for the ABC to operate the Australia Network through to August 2012, and that a decision on the long-term arrangements for the Network would be made ''. . . no later than the end of March next year''.

As the second tender had now been aborted, on November 8 I  wrote again to the Auditor-General requesting that he undertake an urgent investigation into the government's handling of this whole affair.

This time Senator Conroy also decided that the Auditor-General should investigate the whole process.

The Auditor-General indicated on November 23 that he would begin an investigation and that he expected to report in late March 2012.

Notwithstanding two independent investigations under way, the government interfered yet again by announcing on December 5 that ''The Gillard government has made a policy decision that ensures the Australia Network becomes a permanent feature of the ABC''.

The media release said ''The Australia Network is a major public diplomacy platform, and, as is the case with comparable operators such as the UK's BBC World Service and Germany's Deutsche Welle, the government believes the service should be provided by Australia's national broadcaster, the ABC.''

There may be many sound arguments to support the ABC providing the Australia Network service.

However, if the government truly believed that to be the case, it should have made that clear more than 12 months ago and not opened up a competitive tender process.

Once it did so, it was legally and morally obliged to respect that process, to act in good faith, and to abide by its outcome.

The conduct of the Prime Minister throughout this affair raises many serious questions that must be answered.

Not least, Ms Gillard, by awarding the new contract to the ABC in perpetuity, has sought to compromise the two independent investigations into the propriety of the tender process.

Her disregard for the outcome of those investigations reveals the extent of the Prime Minister's contempt for the highest levels of propriety.

Senator Conroy has admitted that Sky News may well have a valid claim for compensation by reason of the government's conduct.

The message this sends to anyone contemplating a public tender involving this government is simply deplorable.

And if, as is widely assumed, this whole charade is part of the Prime Minister's plan to further undermine Kevin Rudd and his authority, then her government's integrity has suffered a mortal blow.

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