‘Cash for Coffin Cheaters’: Government won’t ditch Perth Motorplex contract given to company with bikie links

The Cook Government will not tear up the multimillion-dollar contract for upgrades to the Perth Motorplex it awarded to a company with links to a West Australian bikie heavyweight, The Sunday Times can reveal. It was reported in December VenuesWest had selected Nitro Works Pty Ltd as the successful bidder for the $5 million taxpayer-funded tender for a new drag strip at the race track — a company where senior Coffin Cheater Benjamin David Ortin once worked as a director. Despite probing the deal, Sport and Recreation Minister Rita Saffioti has declared no action will be taking, meaning the organisation, trading as Eastside Concrete, will go ahead with the works. Eastside Concrete remains registered at a Gidgegannup property the 47-year-old owns with Julianne Kathleen Mackey, the current director at the business. Mr Ortin has been a long-serving member of the Coffin Cheaters outlaw motorcycle gang, and in 2010 was involved a violent clash at Perth Motorplex between the Coffin Cheaters and Finks gangs, where one person was shot and another had three fingers cut off. He was hauled into the Crime and Corruption Commission’s star chamber to answer questions over the incident and charged when he refused to provide information. The case was later dropped. For months, the Cook Government had sat quietly on the issue — dubbed the Cash for Coffin Cheaters scandal by the Opposition — and stated it was still awaiting legal advice when questioned over the contract last month. Shadow attorney general Nick Goiran raised the issue in parliament again last week, where Mrs Saffioti responded in writing to advise that her department had “received police clearances” from the directors of Eastside Concrete and no action would be taken. She didn’t go into further detail. “The Government has clearly abandoned its tough talk on this issue,” Mr Goiran told The Sunday Times. “They have provided no assurance whatsoever that this situation will not happen again. There is no clarity about what safeguards are now in place, no commitment to transparency, and no indication that procurement processes have been strengthened. “The Premier or his Deputy should clarify, as a matter of urgency, whether the police advice they said had requested was ever received, and if not, why not. Otherwise they will face allegations they misled Parliament.” A State Government spokesperson told The Sunday Times: “Termination of the contract at the Kwinana site would have resulted in significant termination costs to the State and exposed Western Australian taxpayers to potential legal action.” The Kwinana complex has a storied history with WA’s underworld, most notoriously because of the 2020 assassination of Rebels chief Nick Martin. As well as his interest in Eastside Concrete, Mr Ortin holds shares in CC Promotions, which is registered at the Coffin Cheaters clubhouse in Bayswater. CC Promotions has housed the club’s business interests since the Cheaters put on the first Bindoon Rock festival in 1986. In 2022, the Cook Government introduced the Supplier Debarring Regime to ban certain businesses from government work. It gives department heads the power to debar a supplier if their conduct is: “Likely to have a material adverse effect on the integrity of, and public confidence in, the procurement activities of State agencies or the reputation of the State.” The Government has never used the legislation to ban companies associated with gangs. As well as traditional concreting services and products, Eastside has a machinery and earthworks business and is involved in steel fabrication, welding, roofing and fencing. “During our years of operation we have developed a loyal client base which is just as diverse as the services we offer, including shires, mining companies, builders, developers, landscapers, commercial and industrial companies and householders,” Eastside’s website states.