Consultant alleges ex-MP Stuart Robert took kickbacks - The New Daily

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A consulting business sought former Liberal MP Stuart Robert’s support to win government contacts by channelling money to a company linked to him, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.

The audit joint committee has been examining the links between Mr Robert – who retired from federal parliament in May – and consultancy Synergy 360.

A document published under parliamentary privilege on Wednesday outlined evidence from Anthony Daly, who co-founded Synergy 360 in April 2017 with Kham Xaysavanh.

Mr Daly said in his evidence Synergy 360 “devised a remuneration framework to secure government contracts on behalf of their clients”.

The payments comprised a 1 per cent success fee determined by total project value, a monthly retainer of between $10,000 and $20,000 and a 5 per cent allocation “specifically designed for resources and contractors”.

Ms Xaysavanh and company director David Milo organised a meeting in Canberra on September 8, 2017, to discuss the share ownership structure of Synergy 360, Mr Daly said.

At that meeting, it was agreed 20 per cent of Synergy 360’s shares would be transferred to a company called United Marketing, controlled by John Margerison.

“Ultimately, this arrangement was designed to facilitate the flow of funds through United Marketing and onward to Stuart Robert,” Mr Daly said in the document.

“The main objective of this arrangement was to secure Stuart Robert’s involvement and support in acquiring federal government contracts.

“Stuart Robert’s political influence and connections within the government sector were deemed crucial in ensuring favourable outcomes.”

Government Services Minister Bill Shorten said further investigations were needed.

“I’ve asked my agency Services Australia to advise what the next appropriate avenues are,” he said in Canberra.

“My agency has limited means to further investigate itself.”

However, he didn’t say if the matter would be referred to the new National Anti-Corruption Commission, which starts on Monday.

“Ultimately, it is up to the commissioner what they investigate. It is an independent body, free of government,” he said.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said corruption allegations should be referred to the new federal agency.

“If there is evidence that people believe they have, it should be referred for independent investigation [and] we would support that process,” he said in Perth.

Mr Daly said in his statement he was willing to cooperate with the commission.

Mr Robert, Ms Xaysavanh and Mr Milo have denied the former Liberal MP was helping Synergy 360 or its clients gain federal contracts.

The former Liberal minister said in a statement last year: “All departmental procurements were run with the highest levels of probity.”

The audit committee has ordered Mr Margerison to produce answers to a series of questions and appear at a hearing on July 28, after it published the signed statement from Mr Daly “in the interests of transparency”.

It has also written to all those named in the statement for their responses by July 24 and reminded witnesses that “interfering with or harassing witnesses in any way may be regarded as a contempt of the parliament”.

The committee last week held an in-camera hearing of evidence given under oath by Mr Daly, as well as a public hearing with one of Synergy 360’s clients, IT company Infosys.

Infosys executive vice-president Andrew Garth told Friday’s hearing the relationship with Synergy 360 had ended and also revealed there had been 11 meetings with Mr Robert when he was a minister.

The committee has sought further information from Infosys, which paid Synergy 360 about $16 million over five years.

Labor MP Julian Hill said the committee, which he chairs, had reached no findings or conclusions.

Asked whether he thought the claims would impact the Liberals Party’s chances of retaining Mr Robert’s seat of Fadden at a byelection on July 15, Mr Dutton said: “I suspect Labor will run a grubby campaign.”

Mr Shorten said the timing of the byelection was “purely and only Mr Robert’s”.

– AAP

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2023-06-28 03:51:16Z
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