Its involvement in the construction of major capital city transport infrastructure has helped it garner a profile which is the envy of many of its competitors: Brisbane’s Clem Jones Tunnel and Airport Link tunnel; Sydney’s M7 and M5 Motorways and Eastern Distributor; and Melbourne’s Southern Cross Railway Station.
The company also owns Sydney’s Cross City Tunnel, which it (and ABN AMRO) bought from the project’s original owners in 2007.
Leighton Contractors, a long-term and valued client of Jackson Wells, is also a major player in Defence in Australia.
Most notably, the company teamed up with ABN AMRO Australian and New Zealand (now the Royal Bank of Scotland) in 2005 to successfully tender for the Commonwealth’s first Public Private Partnership (PPP).
The PPP was to build, own and operate for 30 years a sparkling new Defence’s headquarters – the Headquarters Joint Operations Command (HQJOC) – on sheep paddocks about 17km east of Canberra.
Construction on the $300 million project started in October 2006 and handover occurred in July 2008. Following completion Leighton Contractors sold its share to Industry Funds Management.
Jackson Wells provided Leighton Contractors with strategic advice during its tender and issues and media management services during the construction phase.
In the past decade, Leighton Contractors carried out work valued at more than $1 billion for Defence and is today heavily involved with several Defence projects at HMAS Albatross (Nowra, NSW), RAAF Tindall Air Base (NT) and the Australian Super Hornet Facilities at RAAF Amberley (Queensland).
Leighton Contractors’ Nextgen Networks national telecommunications carrier subsidiary is also involved in a 3,500km optical fibre deployment for Defence.
The company is currently one of two consortia tendering to build Phase 2 of Defence’s SLEAP 2, a project to bring living accommodation for single members of the Australian Defence Force into line with community standards.
The successful tenderer, expected to be announced in April 2011, will be responsible for the planning, development, construction, financing, maintenance and operation of these facilities, potentially under PPP arrangements over 30 years.
Phase 2 will deliver 3,015 permanent rooms across 14 Defence bases in all mainland States and Territories. Leighton Contractors is part of the Ubique consortium, with Royal Bank of Scotland and Transfield Services, bidding for the contract.
Jackson Wells continues to provide Leighton Contractors with Government Relations advice around its work with Defence.
