Former Lendlease employee approved developer’s tender for War Memorial redevelopment

An Australian War Memorial official who approved a tender by Lendlease for work on the controversial $550 million upgrade of the national institution did not disclose they had worked at the developer just six months earlier.

The finding is contained in the Australian National Audit Office’s review of the handling of contracts for the project, prompting Veteran Affairs Minister Matt Keogh to demand answers over revelations conflicts of interest were improperly managed, and ministerial scrutiny was dodged.

The new look proposed for the Australian War Memorial. Credit:

The report says the auditor “observed deficiencies” in the memorial’s handling of conflicts of interest where members of the redevelopment’s tender evaluation committee had prior employment and working relationships with tenderers.

“The delegate for the Poppy’s Carpark tender did not complete a conflict of interest declaration before approving the procurement outcome on 14 October 2019, six months after leaving employment with the successful tenderer, Lendlease,” the report says, referring to one element of the development.

According to the report, that delegated decision-maker’s position within the Commonwealth public service meant they were not required to complete an annual declaration of interests.

Lendlease was contracted to provide works to two elements of the upgrade worth a combined $132 million, with the other element being a section of the main works.

The audit office identified two of four officials involved in the tender process who did not declare their previous employment with applicants for the tender.

The redevelopment has attracted criticism since its announcement by former prime minister Scott Morrison in November 2018, with some saying the expansive changes would turn the memorial into a kind of theme park.

A spokesperson for Keogh said the minister had sought an urgent briefing from the Australian National Audit Office over its report, “and will discuss these [issues] with the Australian War Memorial’s management as a priority”.

“The minister is concerned by the ANAO report relating to the management of the Australian War Memorial’s development project,” the spokesperson said.

Other findings of the report included that the project was announced by the former government before a detailed business case was handed down; insufficient detailed briefs relating to the development were provided to responsible ministers; and the discovery of steps being taken to avoid seeking ministerial approval for entering into contracts.

In one case, the auditor-general found a company had its contract increased to just $1 below the threshold at which it would need ministerial approval – set at $1 million – before the same firm had an $805,000 contract extended to $16.9 million.

A spokesperson for former Nationals MP Andrew Gee, who was veterans’ affairs minister from July 2021 until the Coalition lost the election in May 2022, said he had not had the opportunity to read the report and would withhold commenting until he had done so. He has been meeting with disaster-hit residents of the Megalong Valley.

This masthead put several questions to the Australian War Memorial about the failings identified in the report and was directed to published, prepared statements by director Matt Anderson and chair, former Labor leader Kim Beazley.

Anderson’s statement said the report had also made positive findings relating to probity and transparency across the scope of the redevelopment.

“I am proud of the way the memorial has continued to deliver this project of national significance during the added challenge of keeping the memorial open to the public as the centre of national commemoration, while adapting simultaneously to the impacts of COVID and record high construction inflation,” Anderson said.

Beazley said the institution believed the report would provide government with assurance that “it has successfully managed the development in order to deliver high quality and value for money outcomes for veterans, their families and all Australians.”

Centre for Public Integrity director Geoffrey Watson SC said “plainly serious” probity issues arose from the report, which itself led to more questions about the management of the redevelopment.

“It’s another example of the haphazard way in which we are governed,” he said.

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