The WA government will pay Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei and engineering firm UGL $6.6 million, two years after it axed a controversial $206 million contract to rebuild Metronet’s communications network.

Transport Minister Rita Saffioti revealed in Parliament the government had also entered into a $327 million contract with Finnish telecommunications giant Nokia and Networks Australia, $121 million more than the Huawei deal.

Opposition spokesperson for Metronet, Tjorn Sibma, said the deal with Huawei was shrouded in secrecy and never announced publicly, with concerns at the Chinese company’s capacity to deliver the contract at the time it was signed.

“Rita Saffioti ignored every sensible warning about this, she pressed ahead, and she has delivered failure as a result,” he told Liam Bartlett on 6PR Mornings.

“This was completely avoidable, if the government had any sophisticated since on how the world works, they would’ve run away from it.

“There were other contractors who were able to provide the service… that the PTA needed, they turned that opportunity down and they delivered a busted flush.”

Tap PLAY to hear Tjorn Sibma discuss the fallout on Mornings