Coalition wants ICAC to investigate Rosehill findings, probe launched into leak

A high-powered probe will be launched to find out who leaked details about a report into the plan to sell Rosehill Racecourse.

A high-powered probe will be launched to find out who leaked details about a report into the plan to sell Rosehill Racecourse.

A parliamentary inquiry into the Australian Turf Club’s proposal to turn Rosehill into a 25,000 home mini-city on Friday referred its final report to the Independent Commission Against Corruption, due to “significant conflicting evidence regarding the proposal to develop Rosehill Racecourse, including unanswered questions surrounding the involvement of the Premier”.

The ICAC referral was leaked before the final report was tabled, when committee members were gagged from talking publicly.

“It is of significant concern when it comes to this report that it was in the hands of people outside the committee before today,” Liberal MP and committee chair Scott Farlow said.

The committee wants parliament’s privileges committee to investigate the leak, which MPs are privately blaming on Upper House MP Mark Latham.

Scott Farlow speaking at a press conference at NSW Parliament House on Friday. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

The inquiry’s final report reveals that Mr Latham attempted to use the findings to accuse Premier Chris Minns of breaching ICAC guidelines, while referring him to the corruption watchdog.

Other committee members knocked back that suggestion.

The inquiry, dominated by Coalition MPs cross benchers, found that the government “breached impartiality considerations” when considering the Rosehill proposal.

The inquiry found there are unanswered questions around the involvement of Premier Chris Minns in the plan to compulsorily acquire Rosehill Gardens Racecourse as land to create more housing. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

The Coalition and cross bench-led inquiry said the proposal did not demonstrate value for money but may make a “positive contribution” to fixing the housing crisis.

On Friday, Liberal MPs said they were not opposed to the Rosehill proposal, but said they had questions about the process.

“The government, in their haste for a big announcement through caution to the wind,” Mr Farlow said.

Coalition members said the ICAC should investigate the findings of the Rosehill Inquiry’s report. Picture: NewsWire

“Of course, we want to see more housing delivered, but we want to ensure that when it comes to these proposals, that they go through the strictest probity requirements,” he said.

The inquiry found that the disclosing a meeting about the proposal between Premier Chris Minns and the ATC’s government relations chief Steve McMahon as a “meet and greet” was “inaccurate” and “misleading”.

It recommended diary disclosures “properly disclose the purpose of meetings”.

Mr Minns said referrals to ICAC were baseless.

Cate Faehrmannat Friday’s media conference.

It also found there was “conflicting evidence regarding the proposal to develop Rosehill Racecourse,” including “unanswered questions” about Mr Minns involvement, and said the government’s announcement was in breach of guidelines.

Mr Farlow said the committee had not made any “judgments” as to whether Mr Minns broke the rules, but thinks ICAC should make “further inquiries”.

Labor MPs rejected the inquiry’s findings, and accused “particularly committee members” of mounting baseless complaints against the proposal.

“The evidence provided to the inquiry has only strengthened Government Members’ view that the proposal to develop Rosehill Racecourse is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to provide a significant uplift in housing supply in NSW,” they said in a dissenting report.

“Having taken more than half a year of the Committee’s time, concerns repeatedly raised by particular committee members have not been established by the evidence.

“They remain mere assertions, presented as facts, by vocal opponents of the proposal,” Labor MPs said.

Independent MP Mark Latham used a dissenting statement to call on ICAC to investigate Mr Minns over his meeting with Mr McMahon.