An independent body that helps NSW parliament hold government accountable has released a scathing report over the sale and management of Crown lands in the state.
NSW auditor-general Margaret Crawford says management of the sale and lease of Crown land is ‘not effective because oversight of decision making is inadequate and community involvement is limited.’
‘Crown land comprises approximately 42 per cent of all land in NSW,’ the AG’s department says, and includes parks and open spaces to coastal beaches, lands and waterways. Community facilities operate on Crown lands also, such as town halls, sportsfields and racetracks.
Ms Crawford says the manager of Crown lands, the Department of Industry/Lands, ‘has only just started monitoring whether tenants are complying with lease conditions, and does not have a clear view of what is happening on most leased Crown land.’
‘The majority of guidance provided to staff has not been updated in the past decade, contributing to staff not correctly implementing policies on rental rebates, unpaid rent, rent redeterminations and the direct negotiation of sales and leases on Crown land.’
Remarkably, decisions on sale and lease of Crown land are not transparent to the public, claims Ms Crawford.
Secret deals
‘Between 2012 and 2015, 97 per cent of leases and 50 per cent of sales were negotiated directly between the department and an individual, without a public expression-of-interest process,’ she said.
‘The department manages around 8,500 leases, of which 275 are classified as “high value” (with an annual rental return greater than $20,000). Between 2012 and 2015 there were 225 sales of Crown land and 27 “high value” leases were approved.’
NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge said, ‘This report confirms what the public has known for years: closed-door negotiations with selected applicants are normal when it comes to signing away the rights over public land.’
For more information visit www.audit.nsw.gov.au.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
