[Greens-Media] Auditor General the best arbiter

[Manderson, Roland]

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ACT Greens MLA Deb Foskey MEDIA RELEASE
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30 Aug 06
 


Auditor General the best arbiter

ACT Greens MLA Dr Deb Foskey has called for the planning process, and the political battle over the sale of the Epicentre site in Fyshwick, to be put on hold until the ACT Auditor General has looked into the auction and planning issues.

"I believe the office of the Auditor General is the appropriate agency to investigate the integrity of both the process and the parties involved" Dr Foskey said today.

"Evidence I have seen since writing my first letter three weeks ago suggests that the planning process may have been irreparably compromised by the actions of ACTPLA and the LDA officers throughout the sale process."  

"It appears that individuals within the LDA and ACTPLA were feeding selective information to different potential bidders, creating the appearance if not the reality of bias, which is a grounds for overturning the administrative decisions which underpin the sale."

"The apparent breaches of Administrative law in this process expose the Government to the possibility of large damages claims by developers if they can prove they suffered losses as a result of the improper actions of Government officials".
  
"To continue with the DA approval process now may add to the amount of public money that has been wasted in this exercise".
  
"It concerns me that prior to the auction sale, the Planning Minister appears not to have known about the novel interpretation of ACT planning law that the agencies were intending to apply in order to allow massive retail development in Fyshwick." 

"This Epicentre sale imbroglio has the potential to seriously damage the reputation of the Minister and undermine confidence in the integrity of planning in the ACT." 

"If ACTPLA itself is not inclined now to halt the DA process until the Audit report is finalised, I am calling on the Minister to direct it to do so"  Dr Foskey said.



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Roland Manderson   Media Advisor
ACT   Greens    MLA  Deb  Foskey  
Legislative Assembly for the ACT 
ph(02)62050551      m 0412241379
====== www.debfoskey.com ======= 
  
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