MDBA $109m contract and consultancy spending spree

The Murray Darling Basin Authority is spending up big on consultants and contractors, paying pwc alone $27 million.

The MDBA is pouring millions of dollars into consultants pockets.

The Murray Darling Basin Authority has signed off on 182 consultancies and contracts, worth $109 million - including more than $500,000 to keep its offices clean.

A list tabled with the Senate last month shows the MDBA awarded PricewaterhouseCoopers $27.4m last year to help upgrade its river modelling, while the Tati Tati Kaiejin indigenous group was awarded the smallest contract of $101,310 to investigate the impacts of climate change.

Even the cost of cleaning was listed, with Kamberra Indigenous Cleaning awarded $363,064 over two years to keep head office spick and span, while in Mildura Busy Bee cleaning will get $155,150 and Griffith Cleaning Arts another $112,662 over three years.

Most of the contracts in the 2022 list involved the MDBA paying consultancies for support staff, while others were signed on to try and boost community engagement.

Online engagement group Bang the Table has a five-year contract worth $280,900 to deliver an “online engagement platform”, while others such as Ethos Consulting were awarded $360,000 over three years to provide report writing services.

The MDBA is also paying $1.375m to the Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations for five years of advice on cultural flows, $211,970 to STEM Matters for science communications, $180,000 to Yellowscope to assist in preparing the 2023-24 budget and $110,000 for a finance health check by Darren Box Pty Ltd.

The MDBA’s annual report also shows that while the MDBA spent $36.3m on employee costs in 2021-22, it paid out $107m to suppliers, plus another $20.8m in grants.

An MDBA spokeswoman said contractors and consultants provided “critical capability where inhouse resources are not sufficient to support delivery of the MDBA’s work program”.