SA Footy

Jimmy_041 wrote:You bewdy, they've finally worked out WorkCover is fu##ed and how to fix it
It's such a simple plan, one wonders why it's taken so long
SPUDS

Anger as land sold for 25pc of value.
SARAH MARTIN
THE AUSTRALIAN
JANUARY 25, 2014 12:00AM

THE South Australian Labor government has been accused of short-changing taxpayers after selling a prime piece of industrial land for a quarter of its potential value without going to tender.

The Weekend Australian can reveal that the state government received advice about the value of the former multi-function polis site at Gillman in Adelaide's northern suburbs, before announcing the sale to development consortium Adelaide Capital Partners for $100 million on December 23 last year. ACP, led by former Santos chairman Stephen Gerlach, dealt directly with Premier Jay Weatherill after a proposal was allegedly rejected by the government's development agency, Renewal SA, earlier last year. Following the sale, four of the agency's seven board members resigned.

The 400ha site sold for about $25 a square metre, but the government is understood to have received advice that stated the value of the land would be up to $100 a square metre once "development ready". In order to secure this return for taxpayers, the government would have been required to spend between $80m and $160m, but stood to gain $400m for the land. The government said yesterday it had not received any "independent" advice to that effect.

The controversial land sale has also sparked the ire of industry groups and other developers who wanted to bid for the land. Mr Weatherill yesterday defended meeting the development consortium in June last year, following the consideration of the proposal by the Renewal SA board. "The government is entitled to deal directly with proponents to capitalise on opportunities that are in the state's interest," he said. The Premier said that advice from Renewal SA "confirmed the merit of the proposal".

At the time of the sale, the land was part-way through Renewal SA's master plan process. Theo Maras, one of the Renewal SA board members who resigned immediately following the sale, told The Weekend Australian yesterday that he had been unhappy with the process because of a "lack of competition and lack of transparency". "I was not happy we did not follow . . . the normal and due process of going out to public tender."

Mr Weatherill said the site had not "been the subject of any interest" prior to the sale to ACP, but The Weekend Australian understands several other developers had contacted the government to express interest.

E&A Limited chairman Stephen Young confirmed he wrote to Infrastructure Minister Tom Koutsantonis on November 15, urging the project to go to tender and expressing an interest in the land. "I believe such a large parcel of land should be offered through normal selling processes," he said.
"I actually can't believe that this is not a major scandal."

mighty_tiger_79 wrote:JAY FOR SA

Jimmy_041 wrote:From the inside:

Tom Koutsantonis is knee deep in this with his mate Peter Malinauskas
Farrell in / Weatherill out
Koutsantonis = Leader of Labor Party SA
"Now, this is how its gonna be Jay"