The nine blocks of land under scrutiny were in the Belconnen and Stromlo areas of Canberra’s west. Photo: File.
An integrity commission probe has found there is “no reasonable suspicion” the $43 million acquisition of nine rural properties in Canberra’s west almost 10 years ago involved corrupt conduct.
Therefore, there’s no reason to investigate further.
The nine properties acquired by the ACT Land Development Agency (LDA) between June 2014 and June 2017 have a long history, starting with an Auditor-General report in 2018 and followed by a committee inquiry investigation.
Now the ACT Integrity Commission has concluded that while the LDA’s processes “left much to be desired” in terms of appropriate documentation of key elements of transactions and not always appearing to comply with the government’s procurement framework, “neither of the two areas of concern raises a reasonable suspicion of corrupt conduct”.
“The Auditor-General and [committee inquiry] have identified many areas that suggest inadequate attention to detail and good practice by the LDA, including by its board and senior officers, and perhaps even a failure to ensure that the primacy of cabinet’s deliberative processes was observed,” the report noted.
“Those matters may well have been instrumental in inducing the dissolution of the LDA, but in the commission’s view, taken at the highest, they do not demonstrate dishonesty, partiality, breach of public trust, fraud or obtaining personal advantage, which are the hallmarks of corrupt conduct.”
A corruption complaint was made to the ACT Integrity Commission on 31 August 2020 by Canberra Liberals’ MLAs Vicki Dunne and Nicole Lawder on the basis they believed the matters raised in both the Auditor-General’s report and subsequent committee inquiry needed further scrutiny.
The pair felt the committee report had crossed over many areas that touched on the integrity of public administration, including failure to adhere to established policies and legislative instruments and acting without the “explicit authority” of cabinet.
“[There were also] the very questionable decisions to divide one of the leases purchased and allow part of it to pass into private hands, the poor administration of invoices and the unusual relationship between the Land Development Agency and Colliers International,” Ms Lawder and Ms Dunne had submitted.
The purchase of nine rural blocks west of Canberra by the LDA have been scrutinised for years. Photo: Auditor-General.
However, the Integrity Commission decided to dismiss the corruption report based on the fact the matter has already been “appropriately” dealt with by other laws in the Territory and therefore “further dealing with it is not justified”.
“The Special Report concludes that, following detailed examination by the commission of all available material, there is no reasonable suspicion that the transactions involved corrupt conduct by either the staff of the former Land Development Agency or any other public official,” the commission noted.
The nine properties in question were located on Canberra’s western fringe in the Stromlo and Belconnen districts, and were known as (including the amount paid):
- Huntly – $10 million
- Winsdale – $7.5 million
- Milaparu – $7 million
- Pine Ridge – $4.6 million
- Wintergarden – $4 million
- part of Fairvale – $3.1 million
- Lands End – $3 million
- The Vines – estimated $2.2 million
- Wagtail Park – estimated $1.68 million.
In total, the land covered almost 3400 hectares.
The Land Development Agency ceased to exist on 1 July 2017. The City Renewal Authority and Suburban Land Agency were created in its place.
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