❓ Dr. Honey questions the Premier about the Auditor General's findings regarding the sale and lease-back of the Landgate building. The Premier reiterates that the Auditor General found no issues with the financial modelling or lease negotiations, and defends the transaction as a cost-saving measure.
AnsweredQoN 674Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
LANDGATE
OFFICES — SALE
674. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Premier:
In question time on Tuesday, the
Premier stated with regard to the sale of the Landgate building —
Finance
has been told that the Auditor General has made no findings in relation to the
lease negotiation process or
financial modelling that supported the sale and lease-back transaction. The
Auditor General has looked at it and that is the finding. As I said, there is
no issue with the financial modelling or lease negotiations.
(1) Will the
Premier confirm to the house that the Auditor General has, in fact, made no
findings in relation to this transaction?
(2) Has the Auditor General determined whether this
deal has achieved the best financial outcome for the state or has the
Auditor General simply determined whether administrative processes were
properly followed?
OFFICES — SALE
674. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Premier:
In question time on Tuesday, the
Premier stated with regard to the sale of the Landgate building —
Finance
has been told that the Auditor General has made no findings in relation to the
lease negotiation process or
financial modelling that supported the sale and lease-back transaction. The
Auditor General has looked at it and that is the finding. As I said, there is
no issue with the financial modelling or lease negotiations.
(1) Will the
Premier confirm to the house that the Auditor General has, in fact, made no
findings in relation to this transaction?
(2) Has the Auditor General determined whether this
deal has achieved the best financial outcome for the state or has the
Auditor General simply determined whether administrative processes were
properly followed?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) As I outlined to the house the other day, the
Auditor General has reviewed the issue as part of the Department of
Finance's 2021–22 financial audit. Finance was told that the
Office of the Auditor General had made no findings in relation to the lease
negotiation process or financial modelling that supported the sale and
lease-back transaction. That is what I said to the house the other day. That is
what I will say to the member again today.
Point of Order
Dr D.J.
HONEY : Point of order, Madam Speaker.
The
SPEAKER : Just wait for a moment. So long as it is a point of order
and not a supplementary question, you can have a point of order.
Dr D.J. HONEY : Thank you very
much, Madam Chair. Is that an official document that the Premier is reading
from or is it his own notes?
The SPEAKER : I will ask the
Premier to respond.
Mr M.
McGOWAN : They are notes prepared for Parliament. In any event, I did
not quote from it.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr
M. McGOWAN : The Landgate
transaction process, as I outlined to the member the other day, was a market-led proposal that was assessed by a range of government bodies—Finance,
Treasury and so forth. Of those bodies, a number
of them recommended to government that we do it because the building itself is
under-utilised and requires an
extensive amount of work to get it up to standard. Then we brought two other
government offices into that building in that area—Department of
Communities' offices—for which we do not have to pay lease
fees. The assessment was that over a period of time—20 or 40 years or
whatever it is—there would be a $12 million saving compared with the
alternative of the government continuing to own it and having to upgrade that
building. That is the finding of all those bodies. We accepted that advice.
That is an independent process of government. I do not know whether the member
does not like Georgiou—the winning company—or whether the
member just looks for anything to cause trouble with. The market-led proposal
process is designed to come up with innovative things, and we have a range of
them on foot that are under consideration. They are innovative ways of taking
ideas from the private sector, which the member appears to not like. The
process comes up with innovative ideas to create jobs and new opportunities and
the like. That is what it is about. But it has so many probity checks in it
that it is a high bar to jump. Other states have done it for a long time. We
are new to it because the last Liberal government did not want private sector investment—that was not its
thing. We are trying to get private sector investment into these innovative things and revitalise the heart of Midland. What is wrong with that? The
assessment by the bodies that analyse this was that it was a more affordable
option then the government owning and upgrading the building.
Auditor General has reviewed the issue as part of the Department of
Finance's 2021–22 financial audit. Finance was told that the
Office of the Auditor General had made no findings in relation to the lease
negotiation process or financial modelling that supported the sale and
lease-back transaction. That is what I said to the house the other day. That is
what I will say to the member again today.
Point of Order
Dr D.J.
HONEY : Point of order, Madam Speaker.
The
SPEAKER : Just wait for a moment. So long as it is a point of order
and not a supplementary question, you can have a point of order.
Dr D.J. HONEY : Thank you very
much, Madam Chair. Is that an official document that the Premier is reading
from or is it his own notes?
The SPEAKER : I will ask the
Premier to respond.
Mr M.
McGOWAN : They are notes prepared for Parliament. In any event, I did
not quote from it.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr
M. McGOWAN : The Landgate
transaction process, as I outlined to the member the other day, was a market-led proposal that was assessed by a range of government bodies—Finance,
Treasury and so forth. Of those bodies, a number
of them recommended to government that we do it because the building itself is
under-utilised and requires an
extensive amount of work to get it up to standard. Then we brought two other
government offices into that building in that area—Department of
Communities' offices—for which we do not have to pay lease
fees. The assessment was that over a period of time—20 or 40 years or
whatever it is—there would be a $12 million saving compared with the
alternative of the government continuing to own it and having to upgrade that
building. That is the finding of all those bodies. We accepted that advice.
That is an independent process of government. I do not know whether the member
does not like Georgiou—the winning company—or whether the
member just looks for anything to cause trouble with. The market-led proposal
process is designed to come up with innovative things, and we have a range of
them on foot that are under consideration. They are innovative ways of taking
ideas from the private sector, which the member appears to not like. The
process comes up with innovative ideas to create jobs and new opportunities and
the like. That is what it is about. But it has so many probity checks in it
that it is a high bar to jump. Other states have done it for a long time. We
are new to it because the last Liberal government did not want private sector investment—that was not its
thing. We are trying to get private sector investment into these innovative things and revitalise the heart of Midland. What is wrong with that? The
assessment by the bodies that analyse this was that it was a more affordable
option then the government owning and upgrading the building.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.