After NDIA was wined and dined, federal MPs push for probe of public departments receiving gifts from companies seeking contracts
NDIA officials did not disclose that they were wined and dined by US company Salesforce. (ABC News: David Sciasci)
After undeclared gifts were uncovered by federal MPs probing the National Disability Insurance Agency's large contract awarded to a US tech company, a parliamentary committee wants every government department to come under scrutiny.
As revealed by the ABC last week, Salesforce showered NDIA officials with gifts as the agency's contract with the US firm swelled from an initial $27 million contract over 3 years, to a contract worth more than $100 million over 4 years — first discovered through the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit's inquiry.
The committee's final report recommends the Department of Finance and the Digital Transformation Agency investigate if other government agencies have been supplied with gifts or hospitality by large technology firms bidding for lucrative government contracts.
The report also suggests the Australian National Audit Office consider future audits of potential gifts and hospitality issues in the wider public sector to identify concerning practices.
"We do need to establish whether there's a pattern of inappropriate cultivation," committee chair Julian Hill said.
He said the committee found there were a number of companies known for what "you might politely term as aggressive sales cultures".
Documents made public last week show Salesforce representatives took NDIA staff to high-end Melbourne restaurants such as Gimlet at Cavendish House, Stokehouse, Vue De Monde, and in January 2023 to the French Brasserie restaurant, for a meal that cost more than $1,100.
The tech company also paid for government officials to play at the National Golf Club on the Mornington Peninsula, and Kingston Heath Golf Club.
NDIA officials failed to declare the gifts, despite being required to detail receipts over $100.
The NDIA is now investigating "whether any staff may have engaged in conduct that contravened any legal requirements prohibiting the receipt of gifts or benefits by NDIA staff and contractors".
The parliamentary committee now wants to know if the tech firm is providing gifts to other agencies, and has requested the company provide a list of all gifts and hospitality offered to government agencies over a period of 3 years.
Salesforce is also investigating, with a spokesperson confirming the company takes "any violation of its company policies seriously, and is taking appropriate steps to address this matter".
Probity questions wind back to Stuart Robert lobbying saga
Its findings contained in the report come 18 months after Bill Shorten ordered a review into an alleged lobbying scandal involving former MP Stuart Robert and government relations firm Synergy 360.
The Nine newspapers alleged Mr Robert intervened to help friends win a Centrelink contract, a claim Mr Robert has denied.
The same committee released an interim report focusing on this alleged scandal in September 2023.
It did not make any adverse findings against Stuart Robert or his business associates but referred the evidence it had gathered to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
The final report released this week adds to the committee's interim findings, and shows Synergy 360 made an unsolicited approach to Salesforce in advance of a tender process.
The committee also learned undocumented meetings took place between former minister Stuart Robert, Synergy 360 and Salesforce before and after the awarding of the contract.
"Those three meetings with former minister Robert occurred with no written records available of what was discussed," Mr Hill said.
"There were no public servants or probity advisors present [for] two of the three meetings, and no evidence that other potential vendors who were not Synergy 360 clients were afforded similar access.
"It's a matter of public record that ultimately Salesforce secured a major government contract and later benefited from a series of lucrative variations."
Salesforce provided evidence that Synergy 360 was not engaged to help them with the bid, he said.
"We've been entirely balanced in reflecting that evidence." Mr Hill said.
NDIS Minister Bill Shorten labelled the relationship between the NDIA and Salesforce during the period when gifts were being exchanged "unacceptable".
"I had said once I became minister, that I had question marks once the Nine papers revealed concerns about contracts and consultants, that there was something wrong there," he said.
"This again just demonstrates a pathology of behaviour, which it has taken a Labor government to stop," he said.
In a statement provided to the ABC last week, a spokesperson for the NDIA said the agency was working closely with its lawyers, Holding Redlich and BDO Australia, to complete the investigation into its procurement processes as quickly as possible.