Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Western Sydney Airport 'Leppington Triangle' land deal has had a whiff about it ever since it was revealed that a $3 million block of land owned by Liberal Party donors was bought by the Morrison government for $30 billion. This week we know so much more. We know that public servants may have tried to cover-up the land purchase when auditors questioned whether they'd paid too much. We know the valuer nominated by the land holder didn't actually get to go onto the land to do any of the valuations. He could only drive past. We know there were nine valuations and they chose the highest.

The new head of the Department of Infrastructure, Simon Atkinson, says he is trying to, 'Clean it up'. Two staff within the Western Sydney unit are under investigation. This unit's making huge decisions involving billions of taxpayer dollars. We also know that for the first time ever the Auditor-General alerted the Australian Federal Police to a deal, and that's the deal the leader of the Nationals described as a 'Bargain'. This was an Abbott's captain pick and now it's the Morrison government's mess. No-one's been able to look closely at these deals. We need to see what waste and mismanagement has already occurred. There is $27 million sitting there that I know could've been put to much better use in my electorate. Parliament has to lift the lid on this entire project and we need to let in the light.

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