The Canberra Liberals are calling for the Secure Local Jobs Code to be abolished following the ACT Integrity Commission’s Operation Kingfisher findings into the Campbell Primary School procurement.

Master Builders ACT has backed the call, declaring the code “not fit for purpose” and arguing it is failing local builders, workers and taxpayers.

Opposition Leader Mark Parton said the government should also terminate its memorandum of understanding with UnionsACT and scrap the 2023 Ethical Treatment of Workers Evaluation Direction, arguing the arrangements gave unions privileged access to government procurement processes.

“Operation Kingfisher, and the Campbell Primary School procurement at its heart, showed how special relationships and back-door channels can influence live tenders,” Mr Parton said.

Master Builders ACT CEO Anna Neelagama said local builders had lost confidence that ACT procurement was fair and transparent. She said the code imposed unnecessary administrative burdens, particularly on smaller businesses, while doing nothing to require government contracts to favour local companies or workers.

“We are not opposed to secure local jobs. We are opposed to a system that fails to deliver them,” Ms Neelagama said. “The Secure Local Jobs Code does not promote jobs that are secure or local. It’s time for the code to go.”

The Integrity Commission found the Campbell Primary School procurement was improperly influenced by the office of then education minister Yvette Berry and the CFMEU. Ms Berry’s former chief of staff and the former Education Directorate director-general were found to have engaged in serious corrupt conduct. Ms Berry subsequently resigned from cabinet, although the commission made no findings against her.

Ms Neelagama said the code formed part of the system that allowed union influence over the Campbell Primary procurement, claiming it had “enabled this backdoor influence”. She also criticised the government for having no metrics to assess whether its procurement policies were increasing local industry participation.

The Liberals are also calling for mandatory disclosure of external representations seeking to influence government tenders. Shadow industrial relations minister Ed Cocks said “no union, employer group or political office should have a privileged route into live tenders”.

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