Morrison to stay away from $1bn visa contract decision

Scott Morrison is expected to recuse himself from any decisions on a contract worth up to $1bn to outsource visa processing.

Scott Morrison in question time. Picture: Kym Smith

Scott Morrison is expected to ­recuse himself from any decisions on a contract worth up to $1 billion to outsource Australia’s visa processing, if a consortium led by his close political ally Scott Briggs is recommended to win the tender.

The Australian understands that if the contract goes through a process requiring sign-off by ­cabinet or the expenditure review committee, the Prime Minister would distance himself from a final decision.

Following a report in The Australian yesterday, the Centre ­Alliance and Greens parties challenged Mr Morrison and the Home Affairs Department over probity requirements for the contract. Mr Briggs, a former NSW Liberal deputy state director, ­advised Mr Morrison before the August 24 leadership coup, is the president of the Prime Minister’s federal electorate conference of Cook and formerly worked for Malcolm Turnbull’s private investment firm.

Mr Briggs — who also sits on the board of the Cronulla Sharks, whose No 1 ticket holder is Mr Morrison — is the chief executive of Pacific Blue Capital, which holds a 19 per cent stake in the Australian Visa Processing consortium. The consortium, which also includes PwC, Qantas Ventures and Ellerston Capital, is one of only two active bids for the contract along with a proposal from Accenture and Australia Post.

Centre Alliance senator Stirling Griff said: “Given the Prime Minister’s position and the importance of this contract, he should absolutely excuse himself from being involved in this process. There would appear to be probity issues without any doubt and anything that ­involves a substantial amount of government data — its critical that there are no direct or indirect ­connections.”

In a September 2016 report, the Australian National Audit Office found that the procurement of garrison support and welfare services for offshore processing centres in Nauru and Manus Island fell “well short of effective procurement practice”. It also found there were “no available records of specific conflict of interest declarations having been made by departmental officers”.

The Greens have pointed to the findings to sound the alarm on the new visa processing contract being run by the Department of Home Affairs. They have also raised the prospect of whether a conflict of interest could arise given Mr Briggs’s involvement in the Liberal Party and his relationship with the Prime Minister. The Australian yesterday revealed the independent tender process being run by Home Affairs had several layers of oversight provided by a range of firms. Boston Consulting Group, KPMG, Ernst & Young and McGrathNicol are all working as advisers and to uphold probity requirements. Greens immigration spokesman Nick McKim argued against the outsourcing of visa appli­cations, saying this was “critical government business”. “Access to Australia should be determined by governments on behalf of the people, not by private companies trying to make a buck,” Senator McKim said.

The 2016 ANAO report recommended the Department of Immigration and Border Protection take “practical steps” to maintain complete records of all tender bids as well as conflict of interest dec­larations — a recommendation that was accepted.

Labor ran a campaign against the consortium bid because of the relationship between Mr Briggs and Mr Turnbull but stopped in late February, coinciding with the appointment of former Labor senator Stephen Conroy to the board of Australian Visa Processing.

The Australian does not suggest any political interference in the matter of the Australian Visa Processing consortium’s bid, which is headed by former Foxtel chief executive Peter Tonagh.