Aug 2016..
Airservices criticised over OneSky contracts | Australian Aviation
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Airservices: secret memo exposes OneSKY sensitivities
A confidential memo from *aspiring Airservices Australia chief executive Jason Harfield to key lieutenants within the regulator has exposed the sensitivity of probity issues surrounding the $1.5 billion OneSKY program at the time he was responsible for the program’s delivery.
The memo, written by Mr Harfield in 2013 in his then role as head of future service delivery to “all executive general managers” at Airservices, instructs them on dealing with prospective or actual tenderers for OneSKY.
The move comes as the Australian National Audit Office will in coming months table a report on its investigation into what members of a Senate committee have in hearings have alleged were possible conflicts of interests in the contracting of work on OneSKY.
It also comes as the search continues for a new Airservices CEO, with Mr Harfield acting in that position and making clear he wants the job. Liberal senator Bill Heffernan and Labor senator Glenn Sterle have urged the *government, which owns Airservices, to not make an appointment before the ANAO tables its report.
In the internal memo, leaked to The Australian, Mr Harfield tells top Airservices executives “the *following considerations and *responsibilities are to be read and understood by affected personnel” regarding OneSKY, which will *integrate the nation’s civilian and military air traffic control and navigation systems.
The edicts include not discussing the OneSKY program with “any of your business as usual *contacts unless prior approval has been sought”, and that “all invitations to corporate events and the provision of gifts, from the prospective tenderers provided at *Attachment A, should be politely refused.” The attachment lists more than 100 aerospace and other consulting groups and suppliers internationally, including the group which eventually won the prime initial contract, Thales.
The memo also says: “If you are asked questions about the program or receive any unsolicited contact in relation to the program in addition to not answering the question you should let the One*SKY Program — Manager Acquisition know about the contact.”
“These decisions have been taken to protect both the individual and Airservices from any real or apparent conflicts of interest and the perceptions that may be created within the wider industry.”
Mr Harfield declined to answer questions, *including whether his motive for writing the memo was he thought there was a risk of a breach of probity, and whether, to his knowledge, any breaches of his instructions occurred.
An Airservices spokesman said: “Airservices, consistent with the approach for handling of tenders for the supply of equipment and/or services to the commonwealth, adopted comprehensive probity measures for the OneSKY project.”
“The memo you refer to was part of the proactive communication.”
Mr Harfield’s LinkedIn page says he was executive general manager for future service delivery from July 2013 to August 2015 and that “in this role I have the *accountability for the leadership, acquisition and delivery of Airservices’ next-generation services and harmonised Australian Air Traffic Management system with the Department of Defence”, and that he also held the role of senior responsible owner for OneSKY.
Despite the LinkedIn post and the leaked memo, the Airservices spokesman said it would be wrong to describe Mr Harfield as having principal carriage in Airservices of OneSKY because it would “not reflect how complex projects are managed within the governance structure of large *organisations.”
As revealed by The Australian, the ANAO late last year launched an inquiry into contracts awarded by Airservices to consultants associated with an obscure Canberra-based organisation with international military links called the International Centre for *Complex Project Management.
At a hearing in August, members of the Senate rural and regional affairs and transport legislation heard ICCPM managing director Deborah Hein is the wife of Steve Hein, who worked for ICCPM until hired by Airservices in a senior role.
One contract Airservices struck with ICCPM was processed by Mr Hein.