An intervention came from South Australian Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis just four minutes after journalists began questioning embattled Transport Minister Joe Szakacs about the growing controversy.
Mr Szakacs had not faced the media for more than a week, amid a series of damaging revelations surrounding the state’s largest and most expensive road infrastructure project — the $15.4 billion Torrens to Darlington project.
The complex saga centres on allegations that a member of an outlaw motorcycle gang attempted to exert influence over a labour hire company awarded a contract on the project. The controversy has raised serious questions about who knew what, when they knew it and how the situation was allowed to unfold.
Mr Szakacs finally fronted the media on Tuesday, but the questions surrounding the project were far from settled.
By Tuesday afternoon, the controversy had dominated headlines for more than a fortnight, much to the apparent frustration of the Malinauskas government. And there was little indication the issue would fade, particularly after overnight revelations that the labour hire company’s contract had been terminated.
The exchange between Mr Szakacs and Treasurer Koutsantonis at the press conference was particularly awkward. Notably, the tension did not appear to be prompted by journalists, but rather by what seemed to be a subtle intervention from the Treasurer.
Shortly before the exchange, an ABC journalist asked Mr Szakacs what had led to the termination of the contract.
The Transport Minister responded that the labour hire company had been “directed off site” after failing to notify the Torrens to Darlington Alliance of civil litigation involving an alleged shareholder suing another party reportedly known to be a bikie.
