Satterley defends political links, sprawl, and his most contentious project

Outspoken property mogul Nigel Satterley has staunchly defended his deep political ties, generous donations and his contentious Perth Hills estate project, branding its opponents NIMBYs and accusing them of peddling “propaganda”.

At a Business News breakfast on Tuesday, Satterley downplayed concerns about the 1000-lot estate he is fighting to revive in the State Administrative Tribunal after it was rejected by the state’s peak planning body.

Property developer Nigel Satterley speaking at this morning’s Business News breakfast event.Credit: Jesinta Burton

Satterley Property Group’s plans to establish a town site on 535 hectares of land in Stoneville north of Mundaring housing 2800 people and three schools was rejected by the WA Planning Commission for failing to address bushfire and traffic concerns.

But the proposal’s offset plan recently received the backing of Federal Environment Tanya Plibersek, a process Satterley insisted had been thorough.

“There is lots of propaganda that’s not true,” he said.

“We’re working very hard in SAT, but if we don’t get an approval it will present a real sovereign risk if you can’t get a project approved in an appropriately zoned area in Western Australia.

“I think it’s a NIMBY thing, and there have been a lot of stories, threats, and marching… and we think it’s a bit unusual.”

The proposal has come up against relentless opposition from the community, which has long held that the site is inappropriate for large-scale suburban development and spearheaded a campaign to ‘Save Perth Hills’.

State agencies and two local governments have backed the campaign’s stance, with the departments of planning and fire and emergency services knocking it back twice and the councils of Mundaring and Swan vocalising their opposition.

But that did not stop the influential property boss from heaping praise on WA Labor, from crowning former premier Mark McGowan the country’s “best post-war leader” to the $12 billion flagship Metronet program, which has brought rail infrastructure to his far-flung housing estates.

The influential property doyen, tipped to be worth more than half a billion dollars, used the breakfast to defend his ties to both sides of politics and generous campaign donations he referred to as “community affairs”.

He rejected there was a need to outlaw political donations, insisting WA had already brought in sufficient measures to ensure transparency.

But his proximity to key political figures and the influence he wielded was on full display, with Satterley joking about McGowan’s trips to expensive men’s wear stores and his affinity for Penfolds Grange wine, seemingly a reference to the infamous dinner at Satterley’s Peppermint Grove mansion that landed McGowan in hot water.

Satterley repeatedly referred to McGowan who was sitting just metres away, including the discussion they had before he met with then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull to overhaul the country’s GST carve-up alongside billionaire Andrew Forrest, Wesfarmers chair Michael Chaney and prominent corporate adviser John Poynton.

“I think we’ve done reasonably well out of the pitch,” he told the breakfast.

The shortfall in skilled workers is among the biggest issue facing the state, he said, revealing various stages in the land development process were now taking his company twice as long to complete.

Satterley also called for an increase to migration to combat the state’s dire housing shortage, revealing he had given WA Premier Roger Cook his unwavering support on the issue.

He also defended the urban sprawl his company has become synonymous with after 50 years of delivering low-density communities spanning 7000 hectares from Yanchep to Mandurah and throughout the South West.

He maintains the sprawl is driven by as many as 80 per cent of the people in the country wanting to live on house and land and said that was exacerbated by the struggle to make high-density developments financially viable.

But Satterley believes the boundary is set for the next 50 years, from Two Rocks and Yanchep in the north, to Bullsbrook in the east and South Yunderup.

The 71-year-old spent the morning poring over his journey from Cunderdin into retail and his chance meeting with prominent banker Sir James McCusker, the man he credits with guiding his foray into property and, later, land development.

He also said he had no regrets about his decision to sell his residential building company Statesman Homes to BGC magnate Len Buckeridge in the late 1970s, a move which partially bankrolled Satterley Property Group.

Satterley also talked at length about his philanthropic pursuits, including his well-publicised 50-year-long relationship with media mogul Kerry Stokes’ charity Telethon.

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