Page 332 - Week 03 - Thursday, 1 June 1989
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or relocate them to another floor. I know of a certain gelato bar proprietor who was moved from the top floor of the Monaro Mall to the ground floor under a relocation clause. Many of those clauses are not lawful anywhere else in the Western world. They have flourished in the ACT, and they are flourishing here in Garema Place.
In a reply on 24 May 1989 to a question taken on notice, relating to the developments of blocks 2 and 3, section 43, Turner, by Hamed Pty Limited, of which a Mr Tony Hedley is the director, the Chief Minister advised that the officer who took the decision did so on the basis that it was open to Hamed Pty Limited to take action through the Administrative Appeals Tribunal or courts to obtain the benefit of the erroneous previous decision.
The Rally's inquiries reveal that Mr Hedley's company, Hamed Pty Limited, purchased blocks 2 and 3, section 43, from two widows, in October 1987 and February 1988 respectively. The 99-year residential leases had 50- and 60-odd years to run respectively. They were surrendered by Hamed, and one commercial lease was issued for 99 years. No fee was paid for the extra term that was gained out of that conversion, the reason being that Mr Hedley had learnt that on several occasions in the past officials had forgotten to levy a premium for such an extended term. He claimed the benefit of the mistake and asked to be treated in the same way. An honest official handling the matter asked for clarification and was told by an intermediary of Mr Hedley that a note would be given to cover him. He never got the note. Both Hedley and the intermediary have since left the Administration on retirement packages.
Prior to leaving the Administration, Mr Hedley had an involvement in the tender process for the $100m sale of the Belconnen Mall. One of the interested parties was Sterling Property Trust. Mr Hedley's company later purchased Thetis Court, Manuka, for a reported $3.2m from Sterling Property Trust. Most rents at Thetis Court have gone up by 80 per cent since the purchase. One of Mr Hedley's subordinates has been involved in a back finance deal for a Braddon development for aged persons units and was departmental spokesman when the house at 10 Murray Crescent was demolished for APUs. The same official purchased land in Canberra Avenue which is likely to be rezoned, as we all know.
These matters may not be criminal; they probably are not, so my friend across the floor can get up and vouch for this official's honesty. I am not here to attack that official. He will be the only one named in this discussion. The fact is that, criminal or not, those dealings raise serious questions about partiality and conflict of interest in the ACT Administration. They are issues which have greatly concerned affected members of the ACT population for a number of years, and they have affected retail tenants in this city who thought fondly and naively that submissions that they were making to the business leases review
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