By The West Australianf

Copyright thewest

It was a case of ‘the dog ate our homework’ for the State’s finance nerds when The Bull recently asked to check their maths on a $1.8 billion deal.

An alliance of Webuild and Roberts & Co were picked late last year to build the proposed Women’s and Babies Hospital in Murdoch amid great fanfare.

But it later became “We Won’t Build” for Roberts after the national outfit bricked it and called administrators from FTI Consulting.

So The Bull asked to run an eye over the WA Government’s risk and financial checks for the builder under freedom of information rules.

Yet — somewhat unusually — Department of Treasury and Finance boffins knocked back the request under the ‘trade secrets’ exemption.

Apparently DTF was worried it might reveal “the methodology of . . . a third party” — in other words, how consultants did spreadsheets on the alliance’s finances.

What’s to keep secret exactly? The company went arse up!

Either the analysis was good and the alarm was rung; or DTF missed the iceberg until it was six yards deep in the starboard hull.

That would’ve been a deep disappointment for the State Government, which we’re reliably told was desperate to inject some healthy competition into the local construction market.

Perhaps their procurement rules are also in need of a bit of surgery.

WeBuild has pressed on with the job since Roberts exited and the project is progressing to schedule, a government spokesman said.

All good then. New hospital at Murdoch. Or perhaps now back to Nedlands. Who knows!?

Just check for lead in the pipes before you stick them in the walls.

Never the final Frontier

Shares in Frontier Energy have been on a tear since April, up a whopping 78 per cent to 28¢ each at stumps on Friday.

A big run up, sure, but not quite at the heyday of the on-again off-again 2024 drama over Mark McGowan’s (non-) appointment as chair.

Yet the junior left experts scratching their heads again this week with claims about its Waroona solar project.

“This strategy doesn’t need new transmission infrastructure”, Frontier declared — pointing to an Australian Energy Market Operator map which implied the project was in the box seat for a desperately-needed network connection.

But amid all the excitement it appears Frontier got a bit muddled.

An AEMO spokeswoman told The Bull the map was actually about grid resilience, not network capacity.

“A ‘strong’ part of a power network does not necessarily translate to lack of congestion or spare capacity,” she said.

“(The map) is not an indicator of the likelihood of assignment of capacity credits.”

Sticking some power lines on your solar farm is pretty crucial to the whole point of an energy project so we’ll keep an eye out for a final decision in coming weeks.

A real brain Benz-er

Terrace suits have been licking their lips in the growing fee-for-all following the demise of luxury builder Mercedes Group — which traded as Zorzi Builders.

And boy have Perth’s lawyers, accountants and assorted sundries seen plenty of action.

This week brought a fresh fight when Mercedes Group’s liquidators launched a Supreme Court claim against Mercedes Developments over an alleged $5 million debt.

It follows a September suit against Mercedes Developments 2, which owned the Zorzi office.

Apparently it’s all in a name. The subtle difference between 1 and 2 is that the two companies have entirely different directors.

Liquidators will allege the builder paid cash into a trust linked to Mercedes Developments between 2017 and 2018, and are politely requesting the money back.

Pragma Lawyers’ Aaron McDonald will represent the respondents and said “the claim is misconceived and will be vigorously defended.”

Got that? Three companies, one brand, and a total writ show.

The Bull has been hankering to get his nails done at Dalkeith’s boutique Nail Couture Beauty Lounge but disappointingly appears to have missed the chance, permanently.

Waratah Avenue’s hot spot for a bit of a polish is no more after Pitcher Partners’ Daniel Bredenkamp took control of the business — IK Enterprises Pty Ltd — as liquidator this week.

Sad news that leaves our western suburbs elites a few trimmings short of a full manicure.

The Bull can reveal the salon was was connected to famously entrepreneurial Perthonalities the Khan family, with 56-year-old Annamarie Khan as a director.

She’s best known as the mum of Library Nightclub boss Yusuf Khan.

Also linked to IK Enterprises as a former shareholder was brother Ismail Khan.

We can only guess the Dalkeith beauty market has been going through a rough patch.