Exposed: Bracks' secret deals

Farrah Tomazin, November 3, 2006

Premier Steve Bracks' re-election campaign has been rocked by allegations that a damning report on the Government's handling of major projects was watered down by one of his MPs for political purposes.

Mr Bracks yesterday denied that the report on projects done in partnership with the private sector had been censored to avoid embarrassment before the November 25 election.

He was put on the defensive after more than 30 pages of material - deleted from the final report by Labor MP Christine Campbell - were leaked.

The previously unpublished pages included damning criticism of the public-private partnership deals, or PPPs, including excessive government secrecy, the risk of taxpayers losing out, and "favourable" deals for private companies.

The report was produced by the Labor-dominated Public Accounts and Estimates Committee and tabled in Parliament last month.

It said secrecy surrounding billions of dollars worth of projects done in partnership with the private sector meant Victorians had no idea whether they provided value for money.

At the time of its tabling, The Age revealed it was a watered-down version of an earlier draft, after learning that contract details of major projects such as the County Court redevelopment, the Southern Cross Station redevelopment and the EastLink freeway had been taken out.

Details of deleted pages came to light yesterday after they were leaked to the ABC. They said:

• The Government had a history of delivering big projects over time and over budget, and should be wary of increasing state debt arising out of PPPs.

• Independent scrutiny of infrastructure projects done in partnership with the private sector had been "limited".

• The Melbourne County Court and Mildura Hospital redevelopments "were not in the long-term interests of the public" and "no further contracts of this this type should be entered into".

• The Government had been paying a high premium to transfer project risks to the private sector, but "experience has shown large components of this risk have reverted back to the Government."

• A deal allowing Transurban early repayment of concession notes with the face value of $2.8 billion for $614 million was "very favourable to the company".

The Public Accounts and Estimates Committee comprises nine MPs from the ALP, Liberal Party and the National.

Sources close to the committee have suggested the report was softened to avoid embarrassing Mr Bracks as he seeks a third term in office. "I have no doubt sections of the report had been taken out because it was critical of the what the Government had done with PPPs," one source told The Age yesterday.

But Mr Bracks and Ms Campbell denied suggestions of a political cover-up. "I reject that suggestion totally and the chair of the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee has said that is not the case," Mr Bracks said.

Ms Campbell, a former minister, said it was longstanding practice for the committee chairs to edit reports without showing them to all committee members. Asked why she deleted the pages, she said: "Any draft that I get has to be corrected, and any parliamentary committee has to have the chair satisfied that the report is robust and is as reflective as possible of the evidence received."

Liberal leader Ted Baillieu last night vowed to reform parliamentary rules so that the committee chair and deputy chair - who come from different parties - get access to drafts of reports.

Shadow treasurer Robert Clark, a member of the committee, said it was unfortunate he and other members did not see the full draft. But he stood by the final report, which was supported unanimously by committee members.

The Bracks Government has entered into about 16 public-private partnerships since winning office in 1999, including EastLink, Southern Cross Station and the Melbourne Convention Centre redevelopment.

Amid concerns about the PPP process, Treasurer John Brumby this week bowed to internal Labor pressure and promised that a future government would release full "value-for-money statements" and "public interest statements" within three months of a PPP deal being closed.