'I think I deny it': Former UOW chancellor faces false evidence claims at inquiry
Michael Still walks back sworn evidence
Former University of Wollongong Chancellor Michael Still faced a brutal morning at the state’s corruption watchdog, directly accused of giving “false evidence,” forced to formally retract his own sworn testimony, and criticised for running a “behind the scenes” procurement process.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption’s Operation Scandi inquiry spent Tuesday morning probing Mr Still’s involvement in awarding a lucrative, un-tendered diagnostic contract to KordaMentha - the firm of his hand-picked Interim Vice-Chancellor, Professor John Dewar.
Tensions boiled over when Counsel Assisting Emma Bathurst pressed Mr Still on whether he had properly engaged rival consulting firms Deloitte and Partners in Performance before KordaMentha won the diagnostic contract.
When Mr Still testified he had spoken to Partners in Performance "two months or more prior" to explicitly warn them the university would be needing 'further work', Ms Bathurst delivered a stinging rebuke."
“I suggest to you, that’s false evidence, Mr Still,” Ms Bathurst said.
“No, that’s not false at all,” Mr Still replied.
The exchange capped a robust line of questioning in which the inquiry unearthed emails showing Prof Dewar secretly sent Mr Still a “draft scope” for the diagnostic work days before KordaMentha was officially engaged.
Explicity warned
The inquiry heard that while UOW General Counsel Rebecca Lim was actively drafting strict conflict-of-interest protocols to separate the interim vice-chancellor from the procurement process, Mr Still withheld the fact that he had already received the draft scope directly from Prof Dewar
Commissioner Paul Lakatos intervened, noting Ms Lim had explicitly warned Mr Still to keep the interim Vice-Chancellor role entirely separate from KordaMentha’s commercial pursuits. Commissioner Lakatos questioned whether it was fair to rival bidders that Prof Dewar was backchanneling tender scopes directly to the-then chancellor.
“Professor Dewar speaking to you via email and sending a draft scope of works was behind the scenes, not a transparent or independent process, wasn’t it?” Commissioner Lakatos asked.
Mr Still claimed the official process was completely independent, testifying he didn’t think informing the rival tenderers about the backchannel communication would have impacted the process.
The former chancellor’s memory was repeatedly stretched. Ms Bathurst presented an internal KordaMentha email in which Prof Dewar recorded that Mr Still had assured him the university was running a procurement process that made it “very likely” KordaMentha would win.
When Mr Still testified he could not recall making the assurance, Ms Bathurst pressed: “You don’t deny it, though?”
“Well, I think I do,” Mr Still replied. “I just can’t remember saying that at all.”
An ‘error of magnitude’
The KordaMentha revelations followed an already damaging start to Day 12, in which Mr Still was forced to formally correct sworn evidence he had given just 24 hours earlier regarding a misconduct probe into former chief governance officer Alyssa White.
On Monday, Mr Still testified he first learned of a “serious wrongdoing” finding against Ms White during a Zoom call with top UOW executives in early 2024. However, this morning, he retracted that claim, admitting the first time he ever heard about the report was actually “last week” when people and culture chief Alison Bourke gave evidence to the inquiry.
The stunning reversal prompted an immediate intervention from Commissioner Lakatos. Noting that Mr Still had previously volunteered the Zoom call as his source of information with absolute certainty, the Commissioner asked: “How [did] you make an error of that magnitude?”.
Mr Still conceded it was an error, stating: “I don’t know, Commissioner. It was certainly an error”.
Deflecting the Aspirall approvals
The inquiry also continued its probe into the Chancellor’s heavy involvement in awarding almost $75,000 in untendered work to Aspirall Consulting, run by his “good acquaintance” of 20 years, Tanya Diesel.
Despite emails showing Ms White asking for Mr Still’s approval to sign contracts and use the “council discretionary fund” to pay Aspirall, Mr Still repeatedly testified that he was only approving “the work” and had absolutely nothing to do with approving the expenditure.
He testified that there was a “strict divide” between the UOW council and management, and that he presumed management, specifically Ms White, was organising the payments in the proper way.
Commissioner Lakatos again interjected, pressing Mr Still on his defense that he could authorise work without taking any responsibility for how it was funded.
“Approval carries with it, doesn’t it, an acceptance that the amount that they’re going to charge is within your budget?” Commissioner Lakatos asked.
Mr Still disagreed, stating: “That’s up to management to work out, not me”.
The former chancellor, who resigned on Friday, will continue his testimony on Tuesday afternoon as Operation Scandi investigates governance issues at UOW, including allegations of manipulated recruitment processes and conflicts of interest.
ICAC has made no findings in Operation Scandi. All named individuals are the subject of allegations at a public inquiry.
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