ICAC raids on government contractor Protection Barriers Pty Ltd
ICAC has raided a regional company which has been awarded more than $110 million in tenders from Transport for NSW over the past decade.
NSW
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One of the state’s biggest road safety companies has been raided and millions of dollars worth of assets and luxury cars seized as part of a secret ICAC-led investigation into Transport for NSW procurement deals, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.
Grafton-based Protection Barriers Pty Ltd, which specialises in installing wire rope and steel guardrails on roadsides for the protection of motorists, has been awarded more than $110 million in tenders from Transport for NSW over the past decade.
But in mid-September the company’s head office at Koolkhan, a town outside of Grafton, was the subject of a multi-agency search warrant.
Other search warrants related to the investigation are believed to have been carried out at properties in Sydney.
While ICAC is remaining tight-lipped on the reason for the investigation, it is understood almost $30 million in assets – including two Bentleys – were among items seized.
It is understood Transport for NSW is aware of the recent ICAC activity, but has not been told of the direction or scope of investigations.
Protection Barriers was founded in 2009 and has long been one of the largest installer of safety steel rope – known to many by the nickname “cheese graters” – in the state.
But, in the weeks since the raids, Protection Barriers has shut down its Facebook page and the phone line now rings unanswered.
The raids and sudden shutdown has been the talk of the Grafton area.
Government records show the business won two significant deals in recent years.
One of those contracts was initially set to see it paid $2.2 million for the “installation and maintenance (of) safety barrier at various locations within NSW” between 2016 and 2019.
But that contract was later increased to see Protection Barriers paid a whopping $104 million to do the same job for a further six years, through to June 2025.
A second ongoing contract was set to see Protection Barriers paid $7.7 million to carry out the “installation and maintenance of safety barriers” as part of an unspecified project over a three-year period from July 1, 2024 through to June 30, 2027.
The Daily Telegraph does not suggest any wrongdoing on behalf of Protection Barriers Pty Ltd in light of the recent search warrants, but simply states that the search warrants occurred.
The company has been contacted for comment.
ICAC refused to comment on any investigation, while Transport for NSW said it did “not comment on matters that may be being considered by the NSW ICAC”.
“Transport for NSW takes allegations of corruption extremely seriously,” a spokesman said.
“The department fully cooperates with the ICAC in any instance where alleged or suspected corrupt conduct involving or affecting the public sector has been reported.”
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Originally published as ICAC raids on government contractor Protection Barriers Pty Ltd
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