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.

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.

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

Shadow industrial relations minister Ed Cocks said the findings and Ms Berry’s resignation meant the existing procurement arrangements could not continue.

“No union, employer group or political office should have a privileged route into live tenders,” he said.

The Liberals are also calling for mandatory disclosure of external representations seeking to influence government tenders, while arguing workplace standards should instead be enforced through independent regulation and evidence.

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