The education department spent $1.4 million on extravagant entertainment and promotional stunts to plug their $180 million-plus Ultranet IT project, which collapsed on the day it launched, an inquiry has heard.
The Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) is investigating how contracts for the botched Ultranet project were awarded and tendered, whether education department employees received gifts, travel and job opportunities, and whether they purchased shares in the company that won the multi-million dollar IT contract.
The education department's deputy secretary during the Ultranet tender process, Darrell Fraser.
The education department's deputy secretary during the Ultranet tender process, Darrell Fraser.
The Ultranet IT project was meant to deliver an online platform that connected teachers, parents and students, but was plagued with technical difficulties and rarely used after its rollout in 2010. The former government dumped the Ultranet project in 2013.
The costs of the project blew out from $60 million to a maximum of $240 million, the inquiry heard, far more than $180 million previously reported.
A video played at the County Court on Monday showed professional singers and dancers performing at the Ultranet "Big Day Out" launch at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in August 2010.
The performers in flamboyant costumes did somersaults on stage in front of a large audience of department staff, principals and corporate partners, singing to the tune of Madonna's famous song, Material Girl: "We are living in a virtual world and I am an Ultranet girl".
The campaign cost $1.4 million and included a promotional Ultranet bus.
The inquiry heard education department senior executives bought shares in Darwin-based company CSG Limited shortly before and after it won the tender for the botched Ultranet project.
They did not declare any conflicts of interest, counsel assisting the inquiry Ian Hill QC said.
Other department officials took on consulting roles with the company, IBAC heard.
In the hearing's opening address, Mr Hill raised questions about the integrity of the Ultranet tender process, alleging Mr Fraser may have leaked 'confidential' information to CSG Limited, while the company was tendering for the contract.
Mr Hill also alleged "that there may have been manipulation of the scoring of the tenders by members of the Tender Evaluation Team", as the company received grades that were "inexplicably high".
There was "real concern" within the department about whether CSG had the ability to deliver the Ultranet project, Mr Hill said, yet the contract was signed and valued at $71 million in June 2009.
Richard Bolt, who was secretary of the department between 2011 and 2014, commissioned an internal investigation into Ultranet in 2012, and reported misconduct to the authorities.
He said there was a male-dominated, culture of "intimidation" at the department, and he believed that the culture made the department "vulnerable to corruption".
Over the next three weeks, IBAC will hear from 35 witnesses.
It comes after several department officials and principals were implicated in a separate IBAC inquiry last year, into the rorting of more than $2.5 million of education funds through the banker school system.
The hearing continues.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/14-million-promotional-event-for-botched-ultranet-project-20160215-gmuanh.html#ixzz40KOaGQ2X
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