Rockingham Liberal hopeful Hayley Edwards claims to be victim of smear campaign

The City of Rockingham has defended why it awarded a tender to rebuild clubrooms at Stan Twight Reserve to a company fronted by local Liberal candidate Hayley Edwards’ husband, as the one-time deputy mayor called out a smear campaign designed to damage her election chances.

Accusations flew thick and fast online last week, including Rockingham’s mayor and a councillor being mocked over their friendships with Shelford Constructions director Michael Antic and his wife and that the $1.9 million deal for the clubrooms would fail the proverbial pub test.

Shelford Construction, which is based in East Rockingham, was awarded the job after coming out tops in the City of Rockingham tender analysis process - despite being the most expensive among five shortlisted companies that had been keen to do the works.

“If u look at the pricing matrix it looks like Shelford were the most expensive quote they got. Yet they awarded the work to them. Why?” Alice Vee posted in the Rockingham ratepayers and residents group.

“Coincidence? I think not. Sounds like a few backroom deals and mutual back-scratching are going on.

“Doesn’t exactly scream ‘transparency,’ does it?”

Rockingham mayor Deb Hamblin this week reiterated the tender for the Stan Twight Clubroom redevelopment was assessed in accordance with a published multi-criteria scoring system that took into account all information provided by the tenderers.

“The tender assessment is undertaken by a panel approved by the relevant Director in compliance with Council Policy – Procurement Framework,” she added.

“The panel is independent of the council, which is the final decision maker.

“The policy ensures that procurement functions in the city are statutorily compliant, provide uniform fairness and equity, are transparent and accountable, and achieve best value for the city.”

The tender was awarded unanimously at a council meeting in June, where both Ms Hamblin and Ms Hume declared their friendship with Mr Antic.

Using the scoring system, Shelford scored 74.2 points out of a benchmark of 100, pipping two others - Gnangara-based Geared Construction and West Perth-headquartered Schlager Group - by less than a point.

Shelford was awarded a further 4.5 out of 5 for being local, which widened the margin.

However, Shelford’s lump sum figure was higher than the approved budget.

Ms Edwards has made no secret of her friendship with the Rockingham mayor or Councillor Caroline Hume, who was the celebrant at her wedding to Mr Antic.

Another social media post questioned why Ms Hamblin shared photos of a meeting she’d had with Ms Edwards in February.

“Working together previously we’ve shared the same goals and commitment, and a mission that by all working together, Rockingham would be the benefactor,” Ms Hamblin wrote.

However, others pointed out that Ms Hamblin had also shared photos from meetings with Labor’s Paul Papalia.

Others tied in Perth Lord Mayor-turned Liberal candidate Basil Zempilas who was forced to apologise last week for using his mayoral Facebook account to promote his WA election campaign.

Ms Edwards said she welcomed constructive scrutiny of policies, but would not tolerate baseless smears against her family.

“As a governance practitioner with years of experience, I have always conducted myself with integrity and transparency,” she said.

“During my time in local government, I declared all conflicts of interest and removed myself from any decisions relating to my husband’s workplace.

“This is all publicly documented and can be found on the City of Rockingham website.

“These processes exist to ensure accountability.

“If there were genuine concerns about my conduct in council, formal complaints channels were available-yet nothing was raised.

“Having these accusations appear now, during an election, is no coincidence.”