$1$

$.$

$$The Work. BridgeBro Pty Ltd agrees to design and build a steel, cable

$-$

stayed bridge connecting Queenscliff and Sorrento, in Victoria, Australia. The bridge will be a

$6$

$-$

lane dual

$-$

carriageway freeway bridge, carrying three lanes of motor vehicle traffic in each direction.

$2$

$.$

$$Contract Price. The Victorian Government agrees to pay BridgeBro Pty Ltd the total amount of AUD $

$6$

$,$

$0$

$0$

$0$

$,$

$0$

$0$

$0$

$,$

$0$

$0$

$0$

$($

six billion Australian dollars

$)$

$.$

$$The sum will be paid upfront.

$3$

$.$

$$Materials$.$

All materials shall be good quality and new.

At least

$9$

$2$

$$per cent of steel used must be produced in Australia, unless the Victorian Government provides written approval to vary this requirement.

$4$

$.$

$$Completion Time. The parties agree that time is of the essence and, therefore, the work to be performed under this contract shall be commenced on or before

$1$

$$January

$2$

$0$

$1$

$9$

$$and shall be substantially completed on or before

$1$

$$January

$2$

$0$

$2$

$5$

$.$

$5$

$.$

$$Oil Pipeline. BridgeBro Pty Ltd confirms that it is aware of both:

the existence of an oil pipeline located in the seabed under the zone where the bridge will be built; and

the fact that any damage to this pipeline may trigger substantial environmental harm and the consequential need for expensive environmental restoration works.

$6$

$.$

$$Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed by Australian Law.

Regarding the third term of the contract

$($

$$

Materials

$$

$)$

$,$

$$a representative of the Victorian Government indicated in an interview given to ABC Television News in November

$2$

$0$

$1$

$8$

$$that:

$$

The only way to guarantee the quality of the steel used for the Rip Bridge is to produce it locally.

$$

Almost five years into construction of the bridge, at

$8$

:

$5$

$0$

$$am on Thursday

$2$

$3$

$$November

$2$

$0$

$2$

$3$

$,$

$$a four

$-$

kilometre span between piers

$6$

$$and

$7$

$7$

$$collapsed and fell

$7$

$5$

$$metres to the water below, destroying the oil pipeline underneath. The roar of the impact, the explosion, and the fire that followed could be clearly heard over

$2$

$0$

$$kilometres away. The oil leak caused by the destruction of the pipeline continued for seven days.

After the accident, works were suspended, and a Royal Commission investigation was conducted. Two weeks ago, the cause of the Rip Bridge collapse was made public: the use of low

$-$

quality steel. In this regard, the investigation found that:

At least

$9$

$0$

$\%$

$$of the steel used was not domestically produced. Indeed, the bridge structure was almost entirely built with Chilean steel.

It transpired that BridgeBro Pty Ltd

$,$

$$almost straight after contracting to build the bridge with

$9$

$2$

$$per cent local steel, instead contracted to purchase

$($

and then used

$)$

$6$

$6$

$,$

$0$

$0$

$0$

$$tonnes of Chilean steel from their own parent company. It goes without saying that this was done without consulting the Victorian Government.

It is worth noting, however, that the Royal Commission report also indicated in its conclusions that:

Had BridgeBro Pty Ltd used

$2$

$0$

$\%$

$$or less Chilean steel, the bridge structure would not have collapsed.

Likewise, had BridgeBro Pty Ltd used German or Japanese steel, the accident also would not have occurred. Can the Victorian Government seek compensation for the following losses?

$$6,500,000,000($$$6\mathrm{.}5$ billion$)$ for the design and construction of a new bridge. The construction of a new bridge now will cost half a billion dollars more than the Rip Bridge when it was previously costed in $2018.$

$$340,000,000$ for the destruction of the oil pipeline, along with cleanup of the environmental damage caused by the oil leak.

$$3,000,000$ for a feasibility study and cost benefit analysis to determine the merits and viability of the Rip Bridge. These studies were prepared by Ernst and Young in $2018$ and based on them the Victorian Government made the decision to build the bridge and to open the tendering process where BridgeBro Pty Ltd was successful.