State government rejects bias claim over rejection of $30b Australian Education City project
Last year, the state government rejected a consortium’s $30 billion plan for an education “super city” in Werribee. Now in the face of legal action from the consortium, the state government has hit back at claims it was biased.
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The state government has denied it was biased when rejecting plans for a $30 billion hi-tech “super city” in the western suburbs.
Consortium Australian Education City is suing the Victorian Planning Authority and other state agencies after pouring about $90 million into the venture on public land in East Werribee.
It had proposed a massive precinct featuring up to 90,000 jobs, 50,000 local and overseas students and 70,000 residents as the preferred bidder for the site.
AEC claimed the government’s decision to pull the plug in July 2019 was biased, lacked transparency, reasons and procedural fairness.
But in documents filed with the Supreme Court, the government has hit back, saying no evidence of apprehended bias had been provided.
It also said the decision was made by a committee of state Cabinet and therefore could not be appealed in the courts.
An affidavit lodged by a lawyer for the government said there had been an exchange of tender documents “that expressly reserved the state’s rights, including the right to discontinue the tender process at any time”.
It said that AEC pledged in its initial bid to “unconditionally waive any right to claim costs or to appeal against decisions arising from this process”.
The decision to scuttle the project was a blow for the western suburbs, with Wyndham Council worried that the 400ha site will be sold off for housing and not used to develop jobs and innovation.
Last August, Priority Precincts Minister Gavin Jennings told state parliament that there were concerns about the foreign universities that had signed up for the project.
AEC’s chairman is Chinese-Australian businessman Bill Zheng, and CEO is former Docklands authority boss John Tabart.
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Former Labor premier John Brumby was once an adviser to the project, which included partners PwC, IBM, Telstra, Cisco, and had support from China Development Bank.
AEC declined to comment on the government’s legal defence, however, it’s understood the consortium believes its main allegations have not been properly addressed.
Meanwhile, a group called the Point Cook Action Group has collected more than 600 signatures on a petition calling for a new city to be built at the East Werribee site.
The petition will be submitted to state parliament.