Canstruct, which has previously been linked to a series of donations to the Coalition, was paid $1.82 billion to run Australia’s asylum seeker processing regime on Nauru for five years up to late 2022, making at least $450 million in profits.
Police are examining allegations that many millions of dollars paid to the firm by Home Affairs were misused or misappropriated by Canstruct in misconduct enabled by major departmental lapses. One avenue of investigation is Canstruct’s claiming of insurance costs from the department for a raft of luxury goods under a clause in the contract allowing it to claim business insurance expenses.