Time to throw some light on the secret side of SHFA

“Alarm bells should be ringing about the private negotiations, the absence of public tendering, and the culture of secrecy surrounding the way in which the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority manages and leases public properties under its control,” says Greens MP and spokesperson for Planning, Sylvia Hale.

“We have a public body administering public assets worth more than $1 billion entering into agreements with large tenants that are never competitively tendered.

“For SHFA’s rental income to slide at the same time the value of its properties is rising suggests the Authority is either incompetent or something unusual is going on.

“It’s inevitable that public suspicions are aroused when SHFA pours more than $6 million of public money into renovating a heritage property it then leases to a company with links to the Labor Party. That it does so in the face of objections from the Police and the National Trust simply adds to the unease.

“The Government claims that the ICAC investigated the leasing of 100 George Street, The Rocks, and found nothing to be concerned about.

“But all the ICAC seems to have looked at was a report by the CEO of SHFA on the activities of his predecessor. That’s hardly an arm’s-length investigation.

“Even more concerning is that the Deloitte probity review, paid for by SHFA, did not find anything unusual in the Authority making commitments to the eventual lessee, Australian World Trading P/L, well before the lease was signed – commitments that may have tied SHFA’s hands when negotiating the terms of the lease.

“When parliament resumes next week I will be moving to have all documents associated with SHFA’s leasing policies and the leasing of 100 George Street made public,” said Ms Hale.

Further information: Colin Hesse on 9230 3030 or 0401 719 124