Ross Percival was a promising young professional who had been carving out a career as a senior project engineer with the council and regional representative for Engineers Australia.

He was a keen Latin dancer, a diver, and an environmentalist with a passion for water management.

The 32-year-old’s hard work and love for civil engineering helped him land a dream job with the local government in October 2017, but elation soon gave way to unease.

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In an email to the CCC on July 5 last year, obtained by the Cairns Post, Mr Percival detailed allegations of corrupt procurement practices, record modification and concealment, dishonest dealings with ratepayers and the state government and multiple breaches of local government laws.

He also claimed staff who spoke out were subject to bullying and harassment and that he was deeply scared of retribution.

“I fear that I’m going to be ‘accidentally’ run over on the footpath one day for the things I have argued against them with,” he wrote.

Mr Percival was hit by a truck and killed while on foot on the Bruce Highway about 10km north of Innisfail on February 16 this year.

The Queensland Coroner is investigating the suspected suicide and is yet to determine whether an inquest will be called.

It is clear that Mr Percival’s state of mind had spiralled in his final months, and it is understood he had been stood down from work and was living in a vacant warehouse in Portsmith in fear for his life.

It is also understood he had upcoming court cases on matters related to drugs and stalking – a surprise for people close to a young man whose life had been on an upward trajectory before he started speaking out.

The corruption watchdog has not responded to questions over whether its current investigation into the council was triggered by the whistleblower’s letter.

Either way, the allegations are troubling.

Serious allegations

Mr Percival claimed in his letter to the CCC that procurement arrangements had been “deliberately and intentionally misused” to favour preferred individuals.

“We know that if a supplier is on a RoPS (Register of Prequalified Suppliers) or Local Buy list that the standard requirements of the Local Government Act don’t apply,” he wrote.

The letter claimed the lists were designed to ensure “preferred individuals” appeared so the council could “find work” for them.

“Procurement panels were intentionally stacked with co-operative individuals who would deliver the preferred ‘independent outcome’,” Mr Percival wrote.

“Tender selection criteria were written specifically to favour specific suppliers.

“Recommendations by the panel were intentionally fixated on a predetermined supplier and attempting to prove that they were the ‘right supplier’ to choose.

“Friends and favoured individuals were specifically invited and reminded to submit to RoPS panels, the individuals from council on these panels were specifically selected to present an image of an ‘independent’ panel, and then we used the panel arrangements to avoid having to (a) prove a need to tender for work and (b) invite other tenderers for the work.”

The email further alleged incremental purchase orders were used for these suppliers to avoid financial approval oversight and conceal the true value of payments being made.

“Multiple smaller purchase orders were generated by different individuals or at different times using smaller financial delegations rather than one single larger order that generates more onerous and more transparent reporting requirements so that we could hide how much they were getting paid and why,” Mr Percival wrote.

Reward and punishment

The bombshell email went on to claim compliant employees were rewarded overtime, acting positions, relaxed enforcement of standard employee requirements and more prestigious projects.

“I have personally been awarded with overtime, acting positions and privileges for complying with this culture within my organisation, punished for speaking out, and told to ‘be silent or be silenced’ by senior (employees),” Mr Percival said.

“Employees that questioned or challenged were punished, not receiving overtime opportunities, not receiving acting positions, and were bullied and aggressively attacked … ”

Mr Percival stated records had been deliberately modified and concealed, with emails from junior staff to senior staff “renewed” – sometimes by printing them in hard copy and marking them up with a pen – to ensure “messaging is consistent” before being sent off.

“Employees are directed not to record their own emails, despite it being a policy requirement, and instead required to submit them to another person for them to adjust the document to ensure ‘appropriate filing’,” he said.

“This means that records are very, very difficult to follow because what has been sent has been modified several times over and then might be filed differently from what was actually sent.”

Public deception

Allegations of dishonest dealings with the general public were also described in the document.

“Dealing with the public has not been honest,” Mr Percival said.

“(Some employees) made decisions about how much to value certain projects at ... to avoid triggering council approvals.

“Projects that significantly exceed the threshold amounts that are hidden are split into multiple smaller projects, and project estimates are modified down … so that they don’t trigger thresholds, but then often the costs exceed the original estimate but it no longer requires approval.

“In other cases, individuals who are not legally qualified have made modifications to works during design and construction that have created new risks to the public, and instead of upholding the obligations of the WHS to take practical and reasonable action to mitigate these foreseeable risks created by individuals not complying with the Professional Engineers (PE) Act, this has instead been covered up and concealed intentionally, so that (employee) can continue to negotiate their favourable contract conditions based on the ‘program delivery performance’ and not have to explain the issues that have been created in the process.”

Arguments ignored

The state government was also deceived by the council on multiple occasions, according to the document.

“We have repeatedly lied to the state government about the status of time, dollars and progress on projects that we have received state funding for,” it said.

“Because the funding obligations have been onerous, we have intentionally not complied with them in some cases, built it and then blamed the state government in the media.

Mr Percival claimed he had argued for the council to comply with legislated requirements on multiple occasions with staff on or above his pay grade.

“I have personally supervised multiple individuals who are not complying with the PE Act and reported it and been removed from supervising them,” he wrote.

“I have personally been requested to be involved in stacking procurement panels and criteria to deliver preferred supplier outcomes.

“I have personally seen the invoices and purchase orders designed to not trigger reporting and oversight requirements.

“I have personally seen favoured staff transfer to become contractors to get paid more to do the same job.

“I have personally been directed to find work for preferred contractors, some of who appear to be close friends with senior (employees).”

‘Please come help’

The letter reveals Mr Percival’s level of paranoia about being a whistleblower, which according to people close to him worsened over the ensuing seven months until his death in February.

“I am afraid and scared,” he wrote.

“They know that I have reported these concerns to HR, they know that I have vocally and repeatedly argued about complying with legislated requirements, with behaving ethically, transparently and acting honestly.

“They know my name, my face, my address.

“They have the details of my family through the emergency contacts register.

“I fear they are going to cover everything that they have done up and get away with it and that I’m going to continue to be punished for speaking up about it.

“It needs to be investigated, it needs to be managed.

“The things that are happening need to stop, and it needs to stop being covered up.

“Please come help.”

The fallout

The CCC has launched a probe into the council since Mr Percival’s letter, culminating in two investigators setting up shop at the council chambers for a week earlier this month and conducting face-to-face interviews with councillors and senior staff.

A CCC spokesman said it was not appropriate to comment “considering the complainant is deceased”.

A Queensland Police Service spokesman said Mr Percival’s death was before the coroner.

A Coroners Court of Queensland spokeswoman confirmed his death was reported on February 16.

“The Northern Coroner, Magistrate Nerida Wilson, has carriage of the investigation,” she said.

“The matter is currently the subject of a coronial investigation and further information has been sought from external parties.

“Until all material is to hand the Northern Coroner is unable to determine if an inquest will be conducted.”

The CCC has previously confirmed the investigation was under way but stressed “it is important to note these inquiries relate to allegations, and all allegations should be treated as unsubstantiated until a final outcome is reached”.

Council’s response

A Cairns Regional Council spokeswoman did not respond directly to the allegations contained in the letter but said the CCC had already been notified by the council.

“As soon as council became aware of the allegations they were referred to the CCC, which occurred on June 1, 2020, and council continues to work with the CCC on this matter,” she said.

By that timeline, the council had alerted the CCC a full month before Mr Percival sent his letter.

“Our condolences go out to Mr Percival’s family for his passing,” the council spokeswoman said.