The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (the Commission) has found that the former chief executive of School Infrastructure NSW (SINSW), Anthony Manning, engaged in corrupt conduct, by subverting recruitment and procurement practices to arrange and extend jobs and lucrative contracts for his friends and associates.
In its report, Investigation into the conduct of the then chief executive of School Infrastructure NSW and others (Operation Landan), the Commission finds Mr Manning spent millions of dollars intended for school projects on consultants and contingent workers who were his friends and associates. Two of those associates – Martin Berry and Wendy O'Brien – were also found to have engaged in corrupt conduct relating to Mr Manning's actions.
Although the Commission did not find that Mr Manning obtained a personal financial benefit, his conduct was "a clear case of cronyism," says Commissioner Paul Lakatos SC, who presided at the public inquiry for this investigation. "Public money that had been put aside to build and improve schools for NSW children was instead spent on jobs for friends and associates of the chief executive."
Mr Manning was chief executive of SINSW from June 2017 until February 2024. Under his leadership, SINSW spent $344 million on contingent workers, much of which was sourced from funds for school projects to hide the overall spend on recruitment. Twenty-six of these roles were paid at or above the level of a deputy secretary. One of these workers received the equivalent of around $644,000 a year and started in the role without proper recruitment processes.
In one case, Mr Manning arranged for a longstanding friend, Mr Berry, to draft the scope of services for a lucrative SINSW contract that was ultimately awarded to the consultancy firm Mr Berry owned and operated. The Commission found Mr Berry engaged in corrupt conduct for his actions during this tender process. In another case, a consultancy (also headed by a friend of Mr Manning's) won an initial joint-tender contract worth $145,000 and was then paid nearly 30 times as much for subsequent work that did not go out to market.
Mr Manning arranged the removal of several staff after they questioned his decisions. The Commission found that he engaged in corrupt conduct by misrepresenting the reasons for terminating two of those employees. Wendy O'Brien, who was engaged in a human resources role at SINSW, was also found to have acted corruptly by arranging the blacklisting of the company of an employee's spouse who had made a complaint about two SINSW directors.
The report finds that the NSW Department of Education actioned inadequate oversight of SINSW and Mr Manning and failed to respond to red flags that signalled there were issues within the unit. The Department's executive was aware of but did not address poor financial practices and the department failed to enforce its authority over Mr Manning.
The report makes 16 recommendations to the NSW Government to help prevent future corrupt conduct, including an audit of funding sources for recent expenditure by School Infrastructure, revising systems to better identify red flags, and new guidelines for departments and agencies. Since the investigation, SINSW has since been replaced by the School Infrastructure division, which serves similar functions.
The Commission is of the opinion that consideration should be given to obtaining the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions with respect to the prosecution of Mr Manning, Mr Berry and Ms O'Brien for various offences.
