Bureaucrats may have tried to cover up Leppington Triangle purchase

Public servants allegedly tried to cover up a Western Sydney land purchase that was worth a tenth of the $30m forked out by taxpayers.

Two Department of Infrastructure employees are under investigation, one in relation to the Leppington Triangle purchase in Western Sydney and another for a separate conflict of interest issue. Picture: Toby Zerna

A senior public servant has acknowledged bureaucrats may have attempted to cover up a controversial acquisition of land for the Western Sydney Airport that was worth a tenth of the $30m forked out by taxpayers.

The admission came as the Department of Infrastructure confirmed two of its employees were being investigated for potential breaches of the public service’s code of conduct in the wake of the Auditor-General’s scathing review of the Leppington Triangle purchase.

The review identified possible conflicts of interest issues and found the department’s operations during and after the acquisition “fell short of ethical standards”.

One of the department’s officers has been stood down and another has been moved out of the Western Sydney Unit, pending the investigations.

Former inspector-general of intelligence and security Vivienne Thom, who was appointed by chief justice Susan Kiefel to investigate sexual harassment allegations regarding Dyson Heydon, will investigate unethical conduct related to the Leppington Triangle acquisition.

Department of Infrastructure secretary Simon Atkinson said a departmental accountant had raised concerns about the 12.26ha of land’s price tag but more senior staff had said there was nothing wrong.

Asked by Labor’s Senate leader Penny Wong at an estimates hearing if employees in his department tried to cover up actions that led to the purchase when the Australian National Audit Office did its investigation, Mr Atkinson responded: “Senator, I agree with you.”

“I want to get to the bottom of what happened ... I’m trying to clean it up.”

The Leppington Triangle was owned by billionaire businessmen and Liberal Party donors Tony and Ron Perich through their Leppington Pastoral Company and bought by the Department of Infrastructure in July 2018 for $29.8m.

Secured for the use of a possible second runway at the Western Sydney Airport, the land was valued at just $3.1m 11 months later.

The Australian Federal Police confirmed on Friday the acquisition was now under criminal investigation, with Mr Atkinson acknowledging a crime may have occurred.

Mr Atkinson, who has been secretary of the department since February, said he had commissioned an independent audit of the conduct of the Leppington Triangle transaction separate to the AFP investigation and probe into staff conduct.

He has also established an assurance taskforce to ensure the appropriate response to investigations and the ANAO report were taken.

“As the new accountable authority, I intend to get to the bottom of this and wherever necessary hold people to account through proper, fair and thorough processes and make sure we have the right culture, capabilities, processes and systems going forward,” Mr Atkinson said.