Multiple bankruptcies surround businessman at centre of T2D dispute

The businessman claiming ownership of a labour hire firm that won a now-cancelled contract on the $15.4 billion Torrens to Darlington project has been bankrupt four times, including when the company won the public tender.

Robert Mark Cammarano was also previously in a dispute with the tax office over whether more than $2 million used to fund gambling losses at Crown Casino was required to be declared as taxable income, the ABC can reveal.

Mr Cammarano, 55, is suing in the Supreme Court, claiming beneficial ownership of all 100 shares in labour hire company Career Boss Australia, which in mid-2025 won a contract to supply workers to the Torrens to Darlington (T2D) project.

The South Australian government said Mr Cammarano "wasn't a shareholder" when the contract was awarded. He was also not listed as a company director.

Mr Cammarano alleges in his statement of claim that bikie Jamie Brown "coerced the transfer" of shares in the company by making "express threats of physical harm".

Brown is yet to file a defence but has reportedly said he has "never threatened any shareholder and allegations to the contrary are simply false".

Other respondents to the case have reportedly indicated they will dispute Mr Cammarano's ownership claims to the company.

The Malinauskas government asked the T2D Alliance to suspend its contract with Career Boss Australia when Mr Cammarano's court action was reported in the media on October 18.

On Monday, the T2D Alliance, led by contractor John Holland, cancelled the Career Boss contract entirely, although a court heard the labour hire company was still owed around $2 million for work performed.

Four previous bankruptcies

Mr Cammarano has been declared and discharged from bankruptcy on four separate occasions, according to Australian Financial Security Authority records.

The declarations were made in 2000, 2007, 2016 and 2023.

All four bankruptcies were by debtors petition, meaning Mr Cammarano applied to make himself bankrupt.

He was not discharged from the latest bankruptcy until February 23, 2026, meaning he was a declared bankrupt when Career Boss Australia was awarded the T2D labour hire contract last year.

Mr Cammarano was not listed as a Career Boss director when the contract was awarded, according to ASIC records.

Asked whether the state government should have known about the past bankruptcies before the contract was awarded, Mr Cammarano's lawyer, Scott Jelbert, told the ABC: "I don't think that they should have known."

"He wasn't representing himself as the party they were contracting with," he said, adding that Mr Cammarano's interests were managed through a trust with his family "as the beneficiary".

Mr Jelbert did, however, say that Mr Cammarano was not "hiding in the shadows" when Career Boss was preparing to tender for work on the South Road project.

"I think they knew of him," Mr Jelbert said of the T2D Alliance's knowledge of Mr Cammarano, adding "he was a bankrupt and that happens".

"He was up-front about his involvement with the company, for sure," he said.

The ABC contacted John Holland but the company declined to comment.

ATO dispute over unreported income

Mr Jelbert said one of his client's bankruptcies came following a dispute with the Australian Tax Office over "unreported and unexplained income".

Mr Cammarano declared a taxable income of $61,405 in 2017–18 and $61,789 in 2018–19, according to an Administrative Appeals Tribunal judgment.

But the ATO amended the assessment based on records supplied by Crown Casino in Melbourne.

"Funds used by [Mr Cammarano] to finance his gambling losses represented funds available to him in some form," the judgment said.

His income was adjusted to nearly $1.5 million in 2017–18 and $963,339 in 2018–19.

Mr Jelbert said the full amounts were not disclosed by Mr Cammarano because he did not count loans as income.

"The ATO found it … asked about it and said that 'we think that they weren't loans, you should have characterised that as income'," he said.

"That's what they had a dispute about."

'Good questions' for T2D Alliance, treasurer says

The T2D Alliance has been compelled to appear before parliament's budget and finance committee on November 16, where they are likely to face questions on what due diligence they did on Career Boss before awarding the contract.

Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis was asked on Tuesday whether Mr Cammarano had any meeting with the Alliance before or during the tender process.

"From what I can see, he wasn't a shareholder," Mr Koutsantonis said.

"So, I don't know in what capacity he would have had meetings with the alliance.

"But these are questions that John Holland and [fellow contractor] Bouygues [Construction Australia] are happy to answer, happy to answer in a parliamentary committee.

"These are good questions to put to them because if they have hired someone that they shouldn't have hired, if they have given a contract to someone they shouldn't have given a contract to, then they should terminate those contracts."