Respected journalist Phil Kitchin from the Fairfax stable suggested that a contractor holding a non tendered contract with a government department was outrageous. In fact the way the article was written it was clearly intended to suggest that there was some element of corruption involved.
From the same Fairfax stable, we have Michael Forbes in the business pages today giving the thumbs up to a Whanganui boat building company for negotiating a “syndicated procurement clause” that allows the police and other govt agencies to bypass the tender process and deal direct with said boat building company.
Mr Fothergill also had the good sense to negotiate a syndicated procurement clause in its contract with the police, which allowed other government agencies to bypass the public tender process and go straight to Q-West as a preferred service provider.
This then makes for an interesting conundrum for Fairfax. One well respected writer thinks untendered work is almost corruption and another writer lauds the person responsible for orchestrating non-tendered work as having “good sense”.
So make up your mind Fairfax – corruption or good business? One or the other please.
