Land title registry sale ‘a boon for infrastructure’

The NSW Premier has hailed the $2.6bn sale of the land title registry as a ‘windfall’ for infrastructure.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Picture: Damian Shaw

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has hailed the $2.6 billion sale of the state-owned land title registry as a “windfall” for her government’s investment in infrastructure projects — without fuelling public debt.

But Ms Berejiklian was accused by the opposition yesterday of ­giving away “very sensitive” information of landowners to private interests, opening a core government service to consumer price hikes and losing long-term budget revenue far in excess of the sale price.

Announcing the sale to a funds management consortium, Ms ­Berejiklian said her government had reaped much more than its early flagged sale figure of $1 billion that is to be used for upgrading Sydney sports stadiums.

She said the extra $1.6bn would be invested in other infrastructure projects. While declining to identify them, the Premier confirmed at least 30 per cent of total proceeds would be spent in regional NSW.

Ms Berejiklian said the sale was the government’s last under its “asset recycling program”.

Since coming to office in 2011, the NSW Coalition government has sold assets such as the “poles and wires” of the state’s electricity grid to pay for major projects including the $16bn WestConnex motorway.

The government’s land title business is to be sold to an 80 per cent Australian-owned consortium led by Hastings Fund Management and First State Super, under a 35-year lease arrangement. The remaining 20 per cent will go to the Royal Bank of Scotland Group’s pension fund, which is managed by Hastings.

In 2015, Hastings was part of a consortium that paid $10.2bn for the state’s Transgrid electricity network.

Ms Berejiklian dismissed ­suggestions that private information of NSW landowners could be misused, pointing to safeguards under the sale contract and legislation to protect property rights and confidential data.

She said the sale agreement ensured price rises would be capped at increases in the consumer price index. Her government would also continue to guarantee title under a fund that compensates landowners who suffer a loss ­because of fraud or errors.

The sale arrangement provides for the government to buy back its land title business in case of failure — but the Premier said she was confident of success.

“To have a consortium of this magnitude, Australian owned, ­experienced in asset management on behalf of superannuants is just an amazing outcome,” Ms Berejiklian said.

She said she was “absolutely ­assured” customers would get a better deal as far as guarding against mistakes given the consortium’s technology plan that the government had seen.

The new owners had “an ­incredible incentive to get it right” because other states were looking to follow the NSW lead.

Opposition Leader Luke Foley described the sale as a “bad deal”, saying the $2.6bn price tag did not take into account $190 million in lost annual budget revenue, and $130m in lost annual profits. Over 35 years the government would lose at least $4.6bn in profits to pay for nurses, teachers, police and other services, he said.

“We think there is a long-term loss to the state,” Mr Foley said.