Page 2774 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 16 August 2017
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purchased these properties in the expectation that there would be a future facility there for the benefit of the entire community. However, that is not what has happened and it demonstrates the contempt for the people of Canberra that the government has shown time and time again.
I will run through another couple of quick examples. The Brumbies: the government agreed to waive the $7.5 million lease variation tax that the Brumbies land would have received. Questions have been raised about whether the tax benefit went to the developer rather than the Brumbies, and many questions remain unanswered. Another example is the CFMEU site in Dickson, a block of land owned by the Tradies Club which also happens to house the CFMEU quarters at Dickson. That was purchased for $3.9 million in 2014. That’s right: pretty much $4 million for a block of land. How much would you expect to pay in rent for a block of land valued at $4 million? Apparently $1 per year. Furthermore, the land had been valued at $3.2 million. Were there any other valuations to justify the $3.9 million? It is one of those questions in the documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
Not only is the land being leased back to the CFMEU for $1 a year, but that $1 a year is only payable on demand. So we may not even have received the $1, Madam Assistant Speaker. It makes you wonder what they are going to do with that land that they have been prepared to pay $4 million for. The government have not been able to articulate a plan for that land: $4 million of taxpayers’ money, and the minister and the director and officials were at a loss to explain what they were going to do with the site and had to take the question on notice.
Another example is the sale of land adjacent to Glebe Park in Braddon. Two valuations were obtained: one for $1 million and the second for $3.8 million, but then the government paid $4.2 million for the land and, again, taxpayers foot the bill for that. The Auditor-General was scathing in her investigation of this deal saying that transparency, accountability and rigour had been lacking on the sale.
The Auditor-General was similarly critical of the LDA’s purchase of land around Lake Burley Griffin, the land previously occupied by the bike hire and boat hire places, local businesses that had been operating in Canberra for a long time. The valuations were quite different to what was paid. The Auditor-General once again blasted the deal saying that the Colliers report does not stand on its own and cannot be relied upon without further review and the final ascribed value lacks evidence and methodology.
They are a few examples and there are many more. Some of my colleagues will speak of other examples that do not pass the pub test, including the Braddon Labor Club headquarters being redeveloped into apartments. Another example that makes you question what is going on is a golf club looking to redevelop. The government is running the consultation process, and the golf club believes that moving away from ClubsACT to the government’s preferred clubs provider will advantage them in the deal. When organisations are willing to say that publicly it makes you wonder about what is going on with the government.
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