Last month, a report from the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) slammed the Department of Infrastructure for purchasing the land from a billionaire family at 10 times its market value in what it calls a “significant and unusual transaction” related to the Western Sydney Airport.
Now, Auditor-General Grant Hehir has told a Senate hearing that the federal government may have been defrauded in the Western Sydney airport land deal. The land known as the Leppington Triangle was purchased by the Department of Infrastructure for $29.8 million in 2018, but a report by the Audit Office found that the department had written off 90% of the purchase price within 12 months.
The Australian Federal Police recently announced an investigation into the transaction with a view to determining possible criminal offences in regard to issues raised in the Audit Office’s report. Hehir referred the matter to the AFP in July:
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