A second company has been suspended from Adelaide’s $15.4 billion Torrens to Darlington project after a shareholder was linked to Career Boss, the recruitment agency at the centre of allegations involving underworld figures.
Commercial cleaning firm Lyla was removed from the project after it emerged that one of its shareholders also holds a stake in Career Boss.
Career Boss has already lost its contract with the Torrens to Darlington alliance. The decision followed revelations that the company had not disclosed a civil legal dispute involving one of its shareholders.
The dispute was brought by businessman Rob Cammarano, a Career Boss shareholder. Court action alleges that bikie figure Jamie Brown intimidated shareholders into surrendering their interests in the recruitment company.
Those claims remain before the courts. Career Boss has strongly denied wrongdoing, while Mr Brown has also denied the allegations.
Government faces questions over project oversight
The South Australian Government has moved to reassure the public that the infrastructure scheme will not be compromised.
“We’re not going to be allowing this project in any way to be compromised,” Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis said.
Transport Minister Joe Szakacs said Career Boss was no longer involved in the development.
“Career Boss is no longer anywhere near this project and we’ll let the court proceedings and the fighting it out between shareholders do its thing,” he said.
The Opposition has questioned the Government’s handling of the affair, claiming ministers have changed their position after previously saying there were no concerns.
“Just last week, we had the minister say there were no red flags at all. Today, they’re completely changing their tune again,” Opposition Leader Ashton Hurn said.
The Liberals are calling for an independent audit of every contractor and subcontractor involved in the project, saying it is the only way to uncover any further problems.
“It’s too important for this government to get wrong,” Mr Hurn said.
The Government maintains that checks are carried out before contracts are awarded and throughout the life of a project. However, ministers were unable to specify how frequently those reviews take place or explain how Career Boss passed its initial scrutiny before the allegations emerged.
“They do the tenders, and then on an ongoing basis,” Mr Koutsantonis said.
The River Torrens to Darlington Project is South Australia’s largest road infrastructure scheme and is intended to complete the final 10.5km section of Adelaide’s North-South Corridor.
