‘Gobsmacking’: Penny Wong grills secretary over $30m Western Sydney airport land deal

Labor’s Senate leader Penny Wong has led questioning at a Senate estimates hearing over a decision to spend $30m on a parcel of land near the Western Sydney airport worth just $3m. ‘I actually find it gobsmacking,’ Wong said about the inflated land valuation while questioning the head of Australia’s infrastructure department Simon Atkinson. ‘What is worse,’ Wong continued, ‘is that it appears people tried to cover it up when the audit office came asking questions.’ Atkinson replied: ‘Senator, I agree with you’ 
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‘Senator, I agree’: $30m Western Sydney airport land deal ‘looks like’ a cover-up, says infrastructure chief ► https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/oct/19/senator-i-agree-30m-western-sydney-airport-land-deal-looks-like-a-cover-up-says-infrastructure-chief

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38 COMMENTS

  1. "People make mistakes" is an acceptable excuse from a 16 year old working at a service station. Not from a member of public office whose conduct effects thousands upon thousands of people.

  2. Why isn’t this being covered by the Gaurdian Australia, by just by the Gaurdian news channel? Why doesn’t the Gaurdian Australia allow commentry? I’m hoping @Gaurdian news can address this here on this thread?

  3. The Morrison government pays 30 million dollars for a 3 million dollar block of land at Badgerys Ck and the owners of the land just happened to be billionaire donors to the liberal LNP go Penny a federal ICAC should give Scomo and Co a few sleepless nights looking at all the rorts that went on under Morrison including this one.

  4. The $30mln airport land deal in West Sydney was cheap . Penny says it was only worth $3 mln , what a lie . You cant buy a decent house in Sydney for under $2mln . Why would you expect an acreage landholder to sell a Govt Development Approved international airport & runway for $3mln. As usual Penny is Wrong .

  5. Why dont you disclose the wellcamp centre that uses built n what about the the tunnels that blew out of cost n why dont u claim if u are a duel citizenship and what about being investigated as mean girls you are a trader to our country u chinese spy

  6. AusGov OUTSOURCED all Property dealings – Criminality reigns supreme- – just like Barney Joyce's SALE TO AusGov FOR $83 Million of rainWater- which may or may NOT fall on your land and may or may not flow into a river system.

  7. Being hauled in front of Penny Wong, is like being thrown into a lions cage with starving lions!
    What's amazing is the people in parliament at the moment that have fire in the belly and talk the talk we like to hear from Labor are two ladies Tanya and Penny. On the other side of the room Michaelia Cash would have me dashing for cover! You go girls!

  8. This Departmental Secretary would be a key witness at a corruption commission hearing if we had one. Not hard to see why Christian Porter has been stalling this for a long time. Roll on elections.

  9. The editing of the video clips seems a little misleading. On first watch, I was astounded when it seemed like Simon told Penny he thought her behaviour was inappropriate. On second watch, it is clear there has been a cut in the video, and he is responding to another comment.
    Separately, this is just another reason why a robust Federal ICAC is absolutely necessary. No, not a toothless tiger that the Coalition is proposing – a real ICAC that has both the mandate, and the powers to root out corruption at the Federal level, and especially where politicians are involved.
    Instead of the pollies telling us "If you've got nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear" while they make sure they're exempt from the rules, its time they led by example.

  10. Australian politics have always been 'vibrant' shall we say, perhaps a little confrontational. The difficulty with this (and we have the same problem in the UK) is that the truth very often gets lost in the gunfire, consensus is lost among the vituperation and the wrong decisions are pushed through as a result of nothing more than political tribalism. This is what we call democracy in action.

  11. Penny, give me 30 minutes and I'll share some stories. Just look at the digital transformation agency spend on consultants. What auditor did he appoint Was there a procurement process with proper evaluation… from Fed through to the smallest council it's corrupt all the way through

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