Commissioner Lander's report in relation to his misconduct and maladministration investigation into the sale of state owned land at Gillman.

A4, 266 pages, PDF 4.32MB

ICAC Report - Sale of State Owned Land at Gillman

On 14 October 2015, former Commissioner, the Hon. Bruce Lander KC, published his report entitled Sale of State Owned Land at Gillman.

Commissioner Lander found that the Urban Renewal Authority (trading as Renewal SA), and two senior executives, engaged in maladministration. The Commissioner concluded that the practices of Renewal SA: ‘resulted in a substantial mismanagement of public resources’.

The Commissioner determined to investigate the sale of industrial land at Gillman after an unsolicited proposal from private sector consortium, Adelaide Capital Partners, attracted criticism. The Government accepted the proposal which gave the consortium exclusive rights to buy and develop the land.

The Government did not put the land on the open market to test its value or to provide the opportunity for other potential purchasers to bid. This drew criticism as it was argued that the agreed purchase price for the land was significantly less that its market value.

In the report, Commissioner Lander considered whether the responsible Minister had influenced public officers to proceed with the deal instead of offering it to the market in an open tender, or at least giving it due consideration with a reliable land valuation.

While Commissioner Lander did not find the Minister’s conduct had the effect of obliging the agency to proceed with the transaction without proper process, he made an important point about the potential for this to occur: ‘… there can be a danger when the vigour with which a Minister advocates for a decision or a project has the effect of forcing the agency to act outside of proper process (page 239).

Commissioner Lander recommended relevant legislation and regulations be amended in order to clarify the reporting requirements and decision making responsibilities between the Chief Executive and Board of Management of Renewal SA and the relevant Minister.

As a result of the Commissioner’s investigation and other scrutiny of the Gillman land deal (including by the Auditor-General and Supreme Court), Renewal SA made a number of governance changes. The Board of Management Policy, Renewal SA Charter and delegation framework were revised in light of the issues raised by Gillman. Renewal SA’s approach to land disposal was brought into line with whole of government approaches, as their policy was revised to no longer allow off-market transactions without a current market valuation of the land.

The Gillman investigation gave rise to wider changes relating to the way the government manages unsolicited proposals. Cabinet approved a mandatory process and framework for assessment of unsolicited proposals for government. This framework continues to be an important safeguard against the significant corruption risks presented by unsolicited proposals.