Jillian Segal hired former Scott Morrison adviser on $200,000 contract without public tender process

The antisemitism envoy, Jillian Segal, hired Scott Morrison’s former principal adviser on a $200,000 contract without a public tender process, with department officials saying his skills could not be provided by any other business.Society Advisory Pty Ltd, the company founded by Yaron Finkelstein – Morrison’s former principal private secretary – received the 12-month contract to work with Segal until April 2027, coinciding with the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion.The company describes itself as a consulting practice providing discrete advice to chief executives and boards on “understanding and managing social and cultural changes”.The government’s AusTender website lists the work as “public affairs and strategic communications services”.The independent senator for the ACT, David Pocock, grilled Department of Home Affairs officials about the limited tender contract in Senate estimates hearings on Wednesday, noting the department already had a communications unit with more than 100 staff.Officials said the limited tender process sought a supplier with strong expertise in antisemitism in the Australian context, who could deliver accurate, evidence-based strategic advice and communication support to Segal during the royal commission.Rules in the federal government’s procurement code allowed limited tenders, where only one potential contractor is offered the work, in circumstance where “goods and services can be supplied only by a particular business, and there is no reasonable alternative”.The tender was awarded to Society Advisory “due to an absence of competition for technical reasons”.“This seems highly unusual,” Pocock said. “A $200,000 tender that just goes straight to someone who worked for the former prime minister. Not an actual, what most Australians would consider, a tender process.“That confirms some of the very valid questions that Australians have about our procurement system, where it seems to be a lot more about who you know than expertise.”Finkelstein is a former director and chief executive of political consultancy Crosby Textor. After working for Morrison until the 2022 federal election, he was a special counsel to the then NSW premier Dominic Perrottet until 2023.The home affairs chief procurement officer reviews any limited tender agreements offered by the department before they are signed off. The department secretary, Stephanie Foster, said the contract did not go to the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, for approval.Charlotte Tressler, the department’s chief operating officer, told the hearing market research was completed before Society Advisory was awarded the contract in April this year.“Their knowledge of the Jewish community and the specialist nature of the work that they needed to do were part of the justifications for this procurement,” she said.The first assistant secretary, Sneha Chatterjee, confirmed no other firms were approached for the role.“This particular work includes drafting and reviewing submissions, preparing briefing materials for the witness appearances, and providing advice and support on media engagement and public discourse,” she said.Finkelstein was contacted for comment but referred questions to Segal’s office. A spokesperson for Segal declined to comment, noting she is due to appear in Senate estimates on Thursday.It was revealed in March that Segal’s specialist reviewer, Greg Craven, appointed to lead a university report card process, was commissioned after Segal’s office received no response from five firms approached during an open tender process.In 2024, it was revealed in estimates that then Labor frontbencher Bill Shorten had engaged a speechwriter on a $620,000 two-year contract after an extensive recruitment process failed to find a suitable applicant.