Unravelling top schools unit's network of consultants and 1400 contingent workers
The former boss of the NSW government's school-building unit was in contact with the director of consulting firm Paxon in the lead-up to the group winning a multimillion-dollar contract with the agency, an anti-corruption probe has heard.
The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption is holding public hearings into allegations about the conduct of Anthony Manning, who led School Infrastructure from 2017 until last year.
The inquiry is probing claims that under Manning the public school-building unit engaged more than 1400 contingent workers at a cost exceeding $344 million. The ICAC has previously heard employees from rival major consulting firms were deeply embedded in School Infrastructure after it was established in 2017.
On Thursday, the inquiry heard from Michael Palassis, the sole director and shareholder of Paxon Group, a finance and infrastructure consultancy.
The inquiry heard that during 2017 Manning was in contact with Palassis about setting up a private business venture for the construction of an 'Australian Cancer Wellness Hospital' in China.
Palassis said the pair had met several years before when they were working at Health Infrastructure on the Northern Beaches Hospital project. Manning was employed at Health Infrastructure from 2009 to 2017, and Paxon was advising on the viability of a public-private partnership on the northern beaches project.
Within a few months of Manning starting as head of School Infrastructure in June 2017, the building unit awarded PwC and Paxon contracts which in combination were worth millions of dollars.
On Thursday, counsel assisting Jamie Darams, SC, questioned Palassis about his involvement a proposal to build a hospital in China throughout 2017.
Palassis said he recalled Manning approached him about doing work for a developer looking to build the hospital, and the inquiry showed Manning emailed Palassis about the project in July 2017.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
8 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
School building boss asked staff to ‘chase' friend over tender scheme
The former boss of the NSW government's school building unit had a contractor 'chase' his friend to apply for an internal pre-qualification scheme which allowed him to bid for a tender that eventually netted his firm about $1 million. The Independent Commission Against Corruption on Friday saw text exchanges between former School Infrastructure NSW chief executive Anthony Manning and his friend Martin Berry showing the two were in contact in the lead-up to his registration for a pre-tender scheme within the agency. The texts show that in December 2017 Manning told Berry that a department contractor, Lily Wong, had been 'chasing you for me' but was 'not aware of our connection'. The exchange related to a pre-qualification scheme that Berry's company, Heathwest, was required to join to bid for a contract to provide assurance services to the school building agency. ICAC has previously heard that Manning and Berry had known each other since 2006, when they had worked together in the Sydney office of consulting firm Turner & Townsend. The two men became friends and regularly socialised together, including dinners and social catch-ups on Sydney's northern beaches. In his previous appearance before the inquiry, counsel assisting Jamie Darams, SC, took Berry through a long history of text messages with Manning dating back to 2015 and early 2016 in which they discussed social catch-ups and cricket alongside work. In October 2017, within about six weeks of Manning starting work as the chief executive of School Infrastructure, the two men talked about engaging Heathwest to provide investor assurance services, the inquiry heard in its opening week. At the time, Heathwest was not prequalified under a whole-of-government scheme called the Performance and Management Services Scheme, and the ICAC has heard another School Infrastructure contractor, Lily Wong, had sent emails to Berry prompting him to join it.
The Age
8 hours ago
- The Age
School building boss asked staff to ‘chase' friend over tender scheme
The former boss of the NSW government's school building unit had a contractor 'chase' his friend to apply for an internal pre-qualification scheme which allowed him to bid for a tender that eventually netted his firm about $1 million. The Independent Commission Against Corruption on Friday saw text exchanges between former School Infrastructure NSW chief executive Anthony Manning and his friend Martin Berry showing the two were in contact in the lead-up to his registration for a pre-tender scheme within the agency. The texts show that in December 2017 Manning told Berry that a department contractor, Lily Wong, had been 'chasing you for me' but was 'not aware of our connection'. The exchange related to a pre-qualification scheme that Berry's company, Heathwest, was required to join to bid for a contract to provide assurance services to the school building agency. ICAC has previously heard that Manning and Berry had known each other since 2006, when they had worked together in the Sydney office of consulting firm Turner & Townsend. The two men became friends and regularly socialised together, including dinners and social catch-ups on Sydney's northern beaches. In his previous appearance before the inquiry, counsel assisting Jamie Darams, SC, took Berry through a long history of text messages with Manning dating back to 2015 and early 2016 in which they discussed social catch-ups and cricket alongside work. In October 2017, within about six weeks of Manning starting work as the chief executive of School Infrastructure, the two men talked about engaging Heathwest to provide investor assurance services, the inquiry heard in its opening week. At the time, Heathwest was not prequalified under a whole-of-government scheme called the Performance and Management Services Scheme, and the ICAC has heard another School Infrastructure contractor, Lily Wong, had sent emails to Berry prompting him to join it.
The Age
a day ago
- The Age
Unravelling top schools unit's network of consultants and 1400 contingent workers
The former boss of the NSW government's school-building unit was in contact with the director of consulting firm Paxon in the lead-up to the group winning a multimillion-dollar contract with the agency, an anti-corruption probe has heard. The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption is holding public hearings into allegations about the conduct of Anthony Manning, who led School Infrastructure from 2017 until last year. The inquiry is probing claims that under Manning the public school-building unit engaged more than 1400 contingent workers at a cost exceeding $344 million. The ICAC has previously heard employees from rival major consulting firms were deeply embedded in School Infrastructure after it was established in 2017. On Thursday, the inquiry heard from Michael Palassis, the sole director and shareholder of Paxon Group, a finance and infrastructure consultancy. The inquiry heard that during 2017 Manning was in contact with Palassis about setting up a private business venture for the construction of an 'Australian Cancer Wellness Hospital' in China. Palassis said the pair had met several years before when they were working at Health Infrastructure on the Northern Beaches Hospital project. Manning was employed at Health Infrastructure from 2009 to 2017, and Paxon was advising on the viability of a public-private partnership on the northern beaches project. Within a few months of Manning starting as head of School Infrastructure in June 2017, the building unit awarded PwC and Paxon contracts which in combination were worth millions of dollars. On Thursday, counsel assisting Jamie Darams, SC, questioned Palassis about his involvement a proposal to build a hospital in China throughout 2017. Palassis said he recalled Manning approached him about doing work for a developer looking to build the hospital, and the inquiry showed Manning emailed Palassis about the project in July 2017.
