Cabinet minister Paul Fletcher labels information given to him about a massively inflated land sale 'deficient', blaming department officials for allowing the deal to sail through unquestioned.
Cabinet minister Paul Fletcher has labelled information given to him about a massively inflated land sale as "deficient", blaming department officials for allowing the deal to sail through unquestioned.The then-urban infrastructure minister says he was not responsible for the dud deal
The Commonwealth paid almost $30 million for a 12-hectare plot of land as part of the planned Western Sydney Airport development in July 2018,The Auditor-General investigated the purchase, and found serious shortcomings in the "integrity" of the Federal Department of Infrastructure and Transport's handling of the process, going so far as to say it was "unethical".
"The decision was made by the deputy secretary of the department, not the minister of the day," Mr Fletcher said at the National Press Club in Canberra. "It's very clear from the report that the concerns the Auditor-General expresses go to the conduct of departmental officials, not the minister of the day."The Commonwealth bought the land at Bringelly, in Sydney's west, from the Leppington Pastoral Company .The Department only received one valuation on the land, which was carried out by a valuer suggested by LPC.The Leppington Triangle, as it is known, sits at what will be the end of Western Sydney Airport's second runway.
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