The Australian federal police says it briefed the then home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, on an investigation into alleged bribery one month before his department entered into a new contract with the target of that investigation.
The revelation has prompted the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to demand an explanation from the opposition leader, although there is no suggestion Dutton was personally involved in the contract decision. The Greens called for a royal commission.
Guardian Australia has previously reported on how the former government continued to pay millions of taxpayer dollars to a businessman convicted of corruption to provide offshore processing services on Nauru, even after he had pleaded guilty to bribing Nauruan government officials.
In August 2020 Mozammil Gulamabbas Bhojani was convicted of paying more than $120,000 in bribes to two Nauruan government officials, including an MP and government minister, for favourable deals on phosphate mining contracts for his Radiance International group of companies.
The AFP revealed the timing of the briefing for Dutton in newly tabled answers to Senate questions on notice, which were first reported by the Nine newspapers on Tuesday.
Asked when it had told Dutton it was investigating Bhojani and Radiance International for foreign bribery, the AFP said, “The AFP acting commissioner provided a verbal briefing on the investigation to the then minister for home affairs on or around 12 July 2018.”
But the AFP said it did not have records of precisely what information it briefed to Dutton in July 2018, nor did it log any response.
In answers to related questions on notice, the current minister, Clare O’Neil, confirmed that the Department of Home Affairs and Radiance International Inc entered into several contracts for accommodation leases on Nauru, including one for Anabar Pond that “commenced on 14 August 2018”.
The copy of the contract – also tabled in parliament – shows it was signed by Bhojani and a senior official of the Department of Home Affairs on that date – which is about a month after the AFP briefing to Dutton.
There is no suggestion that Dutton had a role in approving the contract. Dutton is on leave this week and his office said he would not be commenting on the matter.
On 14 September 2018, a month after that contract was signed, Bhojani was charged over the unrelated bribery allegations.
In response to Senate questions, the AFP also said that it “does not hold any record of a request from the then minister for any briefing on this investigation after 17 September 2018” when the ABC reported on the existence of the contract.
The initial value of the Anabar Pond contract was to be up to $933,300, but with options for extensions.
Given that the Anabar Pond contract was extended nine times – mostly under the Coalition but also under the Labor government – the total value of that contract reached $9.26m by 30 June 2023.
Albanese said Dutton must respond to the “serious allegations”.
“It’s been suggested that he was warned,” Albanese told reporters on Tuesday.
“He needs to explain what has occurred here because the people deserve an explanation about these events.
“This is taxpayers’ money and Mr Dutton has a responsibility to explain what occurred on his watch as home affairs minister with this scandal.”
A senior Coalition senator, Michaelia Cash, told ABC Radio National on Tuesday, “There is no suggestion that Peter Dutton himself played a part in signing the contracts. These contracts are signed by the Department of Home Affairs.”
Cash said she was “not aware of the issues that were canvassed in the reports in the media this morning” but said they were “matters for the home affairs department”.
“I’m sure they’ll be canvassed in the forthcoming Senate estimates processes,” Cash said.
“I would say though that Radiance contracts continued until June this year, well into Clare O’Neil’s time in office.”
The acting leader of the Greens, Mehreen Faruqi, called on the prime minister to “establish a royal commission which examines the entire cruel history of our immigration detention system as well as this latest Home Affairs scandal”.
“At the same time as it was ruining the lives of refugees, the whole offshore detention system was clearly embroiled in questionable contracts,” Faruqi said in a statement.
“There needs to be a full and open inquiry.”
Comment has also been sought from O’Neil and the department.
The Department of Home Affairs has previously told Nine that it had “a robust contract management framework across regional processing operations, which has matured over the past decade”.
