Morrison rebukes McCormack for saying $30m paid for airport land worth $3m a 'bargain'
Scott Morrison has rebuked the deputy prime minister, Michael McCormack, after the Nationals leader suggested on Monday it was appropriate for taxpayers to pay $30m for a block of land worth $3m because in time the sale would look like “a bargain”.
The prime minister told journalists on Tuesday he agreed with the findings of the commonwealth auditor general after a scathing report accused unnamed officials in the federal infrastructure department of acting unethically over the land sale, which was related to the second Sydney airport.
Morrison said the behaviour catalogued during the investigation by the Australian National Audit Office was unacceptable. “These events are not things I’m happy about,” the prime minister said.
“There are clear lessons that needed to be learned within the department and they will be, and there is a review going on presently within the department and I understand why Australians would feel disappointed in that.”
“I’m also disappointed in it and I don’t think it’s something that I would ever like to see repeated – and I know the minister at the time feels equally disappointed about that.”
The recent audit report examined transactions in 2018, when the federal government paid a Liberal donor, the Leppington Pastoral Company, 10 times the fair value and more than 22 times the rate paid by the New South Wales government for 12.26 hectares of land that will serve as the Western Sydney airport’s second runway after 2050.
The ANAO said officials working on the land acquisition “overstated the identified benefits” and “did not quantify costs, and did not address risks” – which was a departure from the approved strategy.
It said departmental officials acted unethically by failing to advise ministers how much they proposed to pay the landowner and for not providing accurate answers when it investigated the sale.
The parcel of land wasn’t needed, according to the ANAO, for another 32 years. The audit also unearthed a note from an official warning the commonwealth “may be criticised for its approach” if the deliberations around the valuation were subsequently revealed publicly.
But McCormack was sanguine when asked about the controversy on Monday. He acknowledged “there should have been better processes around it” but he said “in time it will be a very good investment”.
The Nationals leader said “eventually [the sale] will be hailed as a good decision”.
“I appreciate that yes, it was very much over the odds, I appreciate there’s a review going on into how that actually happened,” the deputy prime minister said.
“But eventually when there is a need [for] more runways and more infrastructure to be built at Western Sydney Airport, they’ll look back and say, probably, what a bargain that was.”
Related: Labor to push for inquiry into 'shocking' Western Sydney airport land deal
Morrison told reporters he wasn’t entirely at odds with the Nationals leader over the second Sydney airport, because he agreed with McCormack that the project would be “an absolute jobs machine” for western Sydney.
“The deputy prime minister and I are on the same page when it comes to that,” Morrison said.
“When it comes to the processes that led to that decision, I’m not happy about it. The officials understand that.
“Now that it’s come to light and has been brought to our attention, we’ll ensure it won’t happen again”.
Labor is pursuing a separate parliamentary inquiry into the purchase and the former cities and urban infrastructure minister, Paul Fletcher, has blamed the department for failing to tell him and the deputy secretary the true value of the land.
The department has also launched an investigation into its staff over alleged ethical breaches and a separate review of the transaction.
