Deal Negotiations Encounter Setbacks Before Finalization

Gartrell stated that Trad contacted him to facilitate the deal's finalization. That same night, Johnson corresponded with delivery authority boss Graeme Newton, outlining his belief that contractors had adhered to best practice principles.

Initial efforts to finalize the deal were complicated by Trad's withdrawal, raising concerns about the June 30 completion deadline.

Subsequently, Johnson's notes from a 6:30 AM meeting with Martyn-Jones and Gartrell indicated that Trad had withdrawn from the deal, which Johnson understood to mean it would not be completed by June 30.

Stalemate and New Proposals Emerge

This situation resulted in a stalemate with the delivery authority representatives. During a 9:40 AM meeting, an additional letter was presented to Johnson's team for signature. Johnson stated this letter was later sent to him, arriving in a bundle of documents via Martyn-Jones from a Hotmail email address.

The presented letter proposed incorporating relevant clauses from the Queen's Wharf enterprise agreement and issuing a subcontractor briefing pack based on the Queen's Wharf model.

Concessions Pave the Way to Resolution

Johnson's team agreed to accommodate clauses from the Queen's Wharf agreement if feasible but expressed concern that the proposal was an attempt to circumvent the federal building code, which they deemed unacceptable.

Johnson explained that they concluded conceding to these rates was necessary to progress. Ultimately, Queen's Wharf base pay rates were accepted. Following this concession, the deal was finalized.

Despite initial concerns regarding federal building code compliance, the acceptance of Queen's Wharf base pay rates ultimately led to the finalization of the deal.