The Advertiser tracks down Paladin director Ian Stewart to discuss $423 million security contract controversy

The mystery Adelaide man whose company won the $423 million security contract for the Manus Island detention centre has been tracked down to a tiny office in Adelaide — FOLLOW THE JOURNEY IN THE ADVERTISER’S INTERACTIVE MAP.

NO PERMISSION GAINED FOR THIS IMAGE . IAN STEWART PALADIN HOLDINGS Pte Ltd Picture Source: www.pngsecuritycongress.com

• The Kangaroo Island shack at the centre of Manus Island controversy
• Paladin contract worth $423m under scrutiny in Senate Estimates
• Spotlight on $423m Manus Island contract

The mystery Adelaide man whose company won the $423 million security contract for the Manus Island detention centre has been tracked down to a tiny office in Adelaide.

The Advertiser on Friday found Ian Stewart in an office without signage in a Pirie St building.

Mr Stewart came to national attention this week when it was revealed in Senate Estimates that his company, Paladin Holdings, had been awarded the $423 million contract.

Paladin is clearly not operating from its previous “registered office” at 134 Nepean Esplanade, at Western Cove, Kangaroo Island – a nondescript shack that is an unlikely headquarters for a company tasked with administering a contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

When The Advertiser found Mr Stewart on Friday and asked about his background, he was not willing to talk, asking “do you really think it’s newsworthy?”

The Labor Opposition thinks so.

WHO IS IAN STEWART AND PALADIN?

Senator Penny Wong told The Advertiser that the public deserved answers.

“As each day goes by, there are more and more serious questions about Paladin and this contract that go unanswered by the Morrison Government,’’ she said.

“This is close to half a billion dollars of taxpayers’ money that Peter Dutton is trying to sweep under the rug and claim there’s nothing to see here.

“Labor doesn’t accept that hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money should be handed out in this fashion, which is why we have referred this matter to the Auditor-General to urgently address the matter.’’

The detention centre contract was awarded through a restricted tender process – a fast-tracked approach used when speed is of the essence.

Paladin was first awarded an $89 million contract in September 2017, then later, on February 28 last year, a $333 million contract to oversee security at the site for 22 months.

The company has a website which says it has “a proud history of providing discrete services to our clients in culturally sensitive ways since 2007’’.

There are few extra details, although the company says it has been active on Manus since 2013, and employs 4500 people across the Asia Pacific.

The makeshift office of Manus security operator Paladin in Lorengau, Manus.

Mr Stewart, born October 26, 1977, in Burnside, has virtually no internet presence that we can find.

No LinkedIn profile. The only photograph we could find of him was from a speaking engagement at the PNG Security Congress.

His wife Talei, also a director of Only Sunshine Pty Ltd, which owns the KI property, has a similarly modest online profile.

The pair are credited with sponsoring a conference session held by the Stafford Fox Medical Research Foundation late last year.

Mrs Stewart appears as a co-author on an academic paper about indigenous drug and alcohol use.

But again, no LinkedIn profile. No Facebook profile which we could find.

For its part, the Home Affairs Department is comfortable with its awarding of the contract to Paladin.

Home Affairs deputy secretary Cheryl-Anne Moy said during Estimates “they understood the environment and we asked if they would be able to undertake these services”.

The department was looking for somebody with experience in PNG and remote service delivery, as well as an understanding of regional processing following the company Broadspectrum pulling out of providing security at Manus. Paladin had subcontracted on Manus Island since 2013 and was involved in other Federal Government work.

A spokesman for Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton told The Advertiser on Friday that questions about the contract would be answered by the department, which has previously said the minister had no role in the awarding of the contract.

The department did not respond to The Advertiser on Friday.

Home Affairs deputy secretary Cheryl-Anne Moy. Picture Gary Ramage

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton. Picture Gary Ramage

The search for the Adelaide man behind Paladin begins on Kangaroo Island.

The story that emerges, mostly through a paper trail, is of a couple with a strong connection to the island, which they want to consolidate, with those dreams perhaps facilitated by a financial windfall in the form of a lucrative federal contract.

As mentioned, the Kangaroo Island shack is registered to the company Only Sunshine, owned by Ian and Talei Stewart.

The company assumed ownership of the site on September 17 last year with a sale price of $0 listed.

Mr Stewart’s fellow director in the Paladin enterprise is Craig Thrupp, who is also listed in company records as residing at the Nepean Bay property.

The Advertiser visited the KI property this week, with its appearance very much that of a doer-upper holiday home, rather than a permanent residence or office.

A company search for Mr Stewart and wife Talei, indicates a flurry of activity shortly after Paladin won the Manus Island tender.

The pair were already both directors in Lengakiki Holdings and Tasahe Holdings. Both names indicate a connection to the Solomon Islands.

The companies were established in 2013.

But from late 2017 to late 2018, their company ownerships blossomed.

The beach shack on Kangaroo Island where security firm Paladin was registered. Picture: Tom Huntley

In November 2017, shortly after the first $89 million contract was awarded, Mr Stewart set up Paladin Solutions and Pomwan Paladian Solutions.

Mr Thrupp was also a director of both, and Rodney Pokapin, of Manus Province in Papua New Guinea, was a director of the latter.

At this time, Stewart and Thrupp’s company High Risk Security Group (Asia-Pacific), changed its name to Paladin Aus.

That company was set up in 2010 and Mr Thrupp is now sole director.

In early 2018, shortly after the awarding of the major part of the Manus contract, Mr Stewart registered Security Risk PTE and Wanna Train PTE.

Then mid-year, the Stewarts launched a series of companies together, with the names indicating a desire to branch out into interests on Kangaroo Island.

These included Only Sunshine and Sunshine Moonrise mid-year, then later Turquoise Waters and KI Rest in October.

With Mrs Stewart as sole director but Lengakiki the owner, she set up The Penny Pub Pty Ltd and Penneshaw Seafront Hotel Pty Ltd.

The intention seems clear – to establish businesses on KI, but at least in part, those dreams were thwarted.

The Stewarts had sought to purchase three popular tourism operations in Penneshaw, the popular island’s gateway.

Seafront Group director Trevor Jaggard told The Advertiser the couple had long had a fondness for the island and were regular visitors to the Penneshaw Hotel, known to locals as the Penny Pub.

The Penneshaw Hotel on Kangaroo Island. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

Ian Stewart had been in negotiations to buy the pub, the Seafront, an esplanade hotel overlooking the water and the local caravan park.

But the protracted talks fell over when the Seafront Group, which had the leasehold for the pub, exercised its right to purchase the property instead.

“They had a genuine love for Kangaroo Island and saw it as a business opportunity,” Mr Jaggard said.

“They felt they could develop the business into the future.”

Mr Stewart approached the Seafront Group directly, avoiding the real estate agent that had advertised the pub in August. “We had a protracted set of discussions but I felt they were genuine in their attempts to develop the properties .... they went as far as paying for building inspections,” Mr Jaggard said.

The Advertiser understands the couple were confident they had secured the properties but the Seaford Group decided to buy the freehold on the pub and not sell off the other two properties.

The Adelaide headquarters of Paladin Security.

That decision was made while the Stewarts were overseas in December and January. Movements on the real estate front on the mainland were being made as well.

Lengakiki bought the pair’s Norwood home for $1.925 million in late 2017.

Tasahe Holdings bought an apartment in Adelaide, in the same block where it already owned two others. It owns another two homes in North Adelaide.

The KI property was transferred into their ownership on September 17 last year.

Lengakiki had also bought a modest office on the fifth floor of a Pirie St office block. There is nothing to distinguish the office from any others – perhaps only that it lacks any form of signage.

It certainly does not look like a business which turns over more than $400 million.

Mr Stewart was in the office yesterday, when it was visited by The Advertiser.

He had very little to say, only that he was not willing to talk, and that the nature of the business was one which valued its privacy.