Weekend Washup: WA politics dominated by Labor's 'Huawei to the danger zone'

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Opinion

Weekend Washup: WA politics dominated by Labor's 'Huawei to the danger zone'

Huawei handed massive WA deal

For a state government that enjoys getting out on the front foot with good news, especially with anything to do with its Metronet public transport spend, it was bizarre the company that won a $136 million tender to build 80-odd mobile towers down Perth's rail corridors was left to drop the press release.

Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei announced on Friday, July 6, it had done the deal with the Public Transport Authority to build a very expensive digital radio system for Perth's 180 kilometres of rail network.

Then all hell broke loose.

This week in WA politics was dominated by a controversial decision by the state government to award a $136 million contract to Chinese telco Huawei.

This week in WA politics was dominated by a controversial decision by the state government to award a $136 million contract to Chinese telco Huawei.Credit: AFP

WAtoday revealed the company had paid for five MPs, including Transport Minister Rita Saffioti and Education Minister Sue Ellery, to tour China in 2015.

The company also gave the politicians free mobile phones.

Liberal MPs on the trip said they were aware of the security implications of accepting mobile handsets from a Chinese telco – and gave the phones to relatives to use.

The Labor ministers said the phones they were given are not in use.

Conflict of interest?

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The government immediately denied there was any conflict of interest.

A spokeswoman said the selection of Huawei as the successful tenderer was made entirely by the Public Transport Authority and Ms Saffioti was not involved.

"To suggest a trip made three years ago whilst in opposition influenced this entirely independent process is absurd," she said.

But that did not discourage the opposition.

Acting Opposition Leader Liza Harvey said the ministers should have declared a conflict of interest.

"Two serving ministers in the McGowan Government received travel and hospitality from Huawei worth thousands of dollars," she said.

"One of those ministers, Transport Minister Rita Saffioti, was the lead minister in the current negotiations that resulted in the granting of a $136 million dollar contract to Huawei."

But on Wednesday, Deputy Premier Roger Cook said the Huawei contract had not even gone before Cabinet.

National security debate

If it's true that the contract didn't even go before Cabinet for noting – and the Opposition doesn't believe this – then something is wrong with the government's procurement processes.

"They're now trying to have us believe it didn't even go to Cabinet, that the PTA made the decision," Ms Harvey said.

"We've got ministers who don't see that there's a potential conflict that should've been declared and, the second thing is, it's utterly unbelievable for Roger Cook to come out and say that Cabinet didn't make a decision on a $136 million contract.

"It had to have made a decision or else the government is in serious trouble with the way they're running things."

Huawei is a controversial company.

In 2012, it was banned from tendering for National Broadband Network contracts by the Gillard Labor Government on advice from Australian intelligence services.

Last month, the chairman of the Federal Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Liberal MP David Fawcett, called on the Turnbull Government to enforce a similar ban on the company bidding for work building Australia's 5G networks.

The Defence Department began phasing out the use of Huawei built mobile phones in February after United States spy chiefs issued blunt security warnings about the company's products.

Where to from here?

Transport Minister is on leave until the end of July, and the contract is signed.

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But there are still questions to be asked. How is it that a deal of this size, with national security implications, has not been scrutinised by Cabinet?

Even though the government maintains that Ms Saffioti had nothing to do with the decision to appoint Huawei, why was it her office that organised a briefing for Opposition on the advice received from the Commonhwealth Home Affairs Department?

Who is carrying the can for this decision?

Tweet of the Week

Liberal MLC Tjorn Sibma tweeted a relevant excerpt from the Department of Premier and Cabinet's Cabinet Handbook.

"The following issues usually require Cabinet approval: Politically sensitive and policy issues with significant financial implications, particularly new policy themes and variations to existing policies," it reads.

It is hard to see how the Huawei deal does not fall into this category.

It's also not difficult to imagine there aren't one or two ministers with an understanding of the risks of this deal who would've wanted to have their say.

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