THE ACT government did not appropriately apply the Freedom of Information Act 2016 when it withheld documents following an FOI request into the West Basin/Curtin Horse Paddocks land swap, according to a draft consideration from the ACT Ombudsman.

The request, which was made by former ACT chief minister Jon Stanhope, saw him receive a 30-page document, with about 23 redacted pages.

Stanhope argued that the ACT government has not been upfront with its dealings in relation to the Curtin Horse Paddocks and West Basin. 

Coincidentally, the week that that the Ombudsman issued the draft consideration to Mr Stanhope and the ACT government, the City Renewal Authority got approval from the NCA to start construction of the controversial West Basin project, Acton Waterfront.

Construction is planned to start on Monday (September 14), despite more than 140 of 187 submissions lodged during consultation opposing the project.

“I’m not a conspiracy theorist but I believe it’s a remarkable coincidence that in the week that the Ombudsman advises myself and the ACT government that documents that the government has been desperately trying to keep secret, should not be kept secret, the government releases information about a contract that it signed, in April, for works in relation to West Basin,” Mr Stanhope said. 

The approval for stage two of the $32 million project includes an extension of the boardwalk, which will see some of the lake filled in, to establish a new lake edge. Queanbeyan construction company Chincivil will take on the estimated two-year project after winning the contract.

“I can’t understand why the people of Canberra or Australia should not know the value of the land involved in a deal between the ACT and the commonwealth governments, these are public assets,” Mr Stanhope said. 

“I think it’s quite likely that the documents will reveal aspects of this deal that are not publicly available and I will be intrigued to see what they are.”

 Stanhope said the documents are likely to reveal crucial information relating to the land swap.

“The ACT government has indicated that it proposed to under take $100 million of public works on the land,” Mr Stanhope said. 

“But in addition to that its also granted to the Commonwealth land at Curtin Horse paddocks of the value of which we don’t know, that I assume will be in the tens of million of dollars, the land it has given away, so I think it’s important we understand the cost of this undertaking to the ACT ratepayer.”

Stanhope said the documents should also reveal what form of title the ACT government has over West Basin.

“Has the ACT government been granted ownership of the land at West Basin or does it have a licence to occupy the land at West Basin? Is the land at West Basin still under Commonwealth ownership? That’s an important question that I’m assuming the answer will be revealed in the documents,” he said. 

Now, in a draft consideration, ACT Ombudsman Michael Manthorpe, concludes that the Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate (CMTEDD) should give Mr Stanhope access to the information requested, with the exception of “document two”. 

Mr Manthorpe issued Mr Stanhope and the CMTEDD with the “draft consideration” of his decision, which proposes to overturn – subject to representations from both parties – the government’s decision to refuse Mr Stanhope access to a range of documents involving the Curtin Horse Paddocks and land at West Basin. 

In May, Mr Stanhope made requests to the ACT government for access to all documents relating to the controversial land swap between the ACT and Commonwealth governments. 

Stanhope’s decision to lodge the FOI request was made after the National Capital Authority (NCA) and the ACT government refused to divulge information requested by “CityNews” for the valuation of the parcels of land involved in the deal.

The Ombudsman’s draft consideration indicates he will consider “varying” the ACT government’s decision to refuse access to the information and consider that they provide access to all eight documents Stanhope requested, with the exception of one document.

Mr Stanhope said: “This indicates to me that there is information, in the documents that I sought, that the government for whatever reason did not want the people of Canberra to know about.”

“The bottom line is that, at least in a draft sense, the Ombudsman agrees, that the ACT government has misunderstood and misapplied the Freedom of Information Act in relation to my request,” he said.

When “CityNews” contacted the CMTEDD regarding the draft consideration, a spokesperson said: “The FOI Act balances the right for individuals to access government documents with the government’s right to withhold documents.

“The ACT Ombudsman is exercising its role under the legislation to act as an independent reviewer to resolve differing views about what is and is not in the public interest under the FOI Act.

“A written response will be provided to the ACT Ombudsman addressing the matter.”

Controversial West Basin project gets the go-ahead