Yahoo News Former state Liberal MP lobbied for landholders linked to Western Sydney airport
A former New South Wales MP who was closely involved in the multibillion dollar Western Sydney airport development began lobbying for wealthy landholders linked to the project within months of leaving office.
Chris Patterson, a former state Liberal party MP who represented the seat of Camden in Sydney’s south-west from 2011 until his retirement last year, is now a registered lobbyist for some of the most significant landowners in the area surrounding the massive new airport development.
Guardian Australia can reveal Patterson’s lobbying firm IPPA Trust, which he runs with former NSW Labor premier Morris Iemma, represents at least three companies with a major financial stake in the area.
One of his clients is the Leppington Pastoral Company, the firm that sold land to the federal infrastructure department at a massively inflated price, prompting a damning audit and, now, a police investigation.
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The company is owned by the powerful Perich family, a group of billionaire dairy farmers, property developers and Liberal party donors.
As the former local MP, Patterson has a long history with the family. His entries to the state parliament’s Hansard are littered with praise for their involvement in local groups and charities, and he was a regular attender at openings for the family’s commercial developments in his electorate.
In 2014, Patterson applauded the Perich family as “good developers” at the opening of a new shopping centre in their Oran Park housing development. In 2017, he attended the opening of another Perich-owned shopping centre in Narellan where the premier, Gladys Berejiklian, praised the family as representing “everything that is good about people in NSW and Australian”.
Patterson was also involved in meetings between the family and state government ministers while a member of parliament.
Ministerial diary disclosures show that in 2018, Patterson was part of a meeting with the minister for Western Sydney, Stuart Ayres, that included another company owned by the Perich family, Greenfields Developments.
Before that, in 2015, he attended a charity luncheon with the minister for transport, Andrew Constance, that included members of the Perich family and employees from the Leppington Pastoral Company.
IPPA Trust’s other clients include the Chinese company Boyuan Holdings, which owns hundreds of hectares of land surrounding the airport site, and the Cameron Brae Group, a property company with a $110m proposal for a residential development which would see 7,000 new homes built in Bringelly near the airport.
In 2015, Patterson attended a meeting with officials from the Cameron Brae Group and the minister for planning, Rob Stokes. A ministerial diary entry lists the reason for the meeting only as “planning issues”.
Records show that Patterson officially registered as a lobbyist with IPPA Trust in May last year, two months after his retirement. Boyuan Holdings became a client in August 2019, and Leppington Pastoral Company three months later in November.
Patterson’s lobbying activities do not breach any NSW laws. In NSW, former ministers and parliamentary secretaries are only banned from lobbying government officials “in relation to an official matter that was dealt with” as part of their duties in the 18 months immediately following their departure from office.
Patterson was previously a parliamentary secretary for youth unemployment in Western Sydney.
In a written response to questions from Guardian Australia asking what steps Patterson took to ensure any knowledge or information he gained in relation to the airport development wasn’t used to favour his clients, Patterson denied having any conflict of interests.
“There has been no conflict of interest,” he said.
“In my role as the local member for Camden, my responsibility was to represent the interests of my constituents and the communities in my electorate, both the individuals and businesses.
“I sought advice from the parliamentary ethics adviser prior to leaving parliament regarding my future career and I have adhered to that advice. Since leaving parliament, I have upheld my obligations in relation to my business dealings.”
The highly sought-after land within the precinct surrounding the airport has become the subject of intense scrutiny in the wake of two separate scandals which raised questions about the access major landholders have to government officials.
In one case, the Australian federal police are investigating the federal government’s $30m purchase of land known as the Leppington triangle, which is owned by the Perich family. Last month a damning audit into the 2018 purchase found the department of infrastructure paid $26.7m too much for the land.
The department has so far refused to release details of conflicts of interest declared by six departmental and contracted staff who worked in the unit responsible for the purchase.
Meanwhile, the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption is investigating disgraced Liberal MP Daryl Maguire’s efforts to help the racing heiress Louise Waterhouse secure favourable planning decisions to help her sell or develop her holdings near the airport.
The Guardian attempted to contact Leppington Pastoral Company but received no response. Boyuan Holdings also did not respond to questions.
In a statement, the Cameron Brae Group said there was no conflict. The company said it did not own any property within the aerotropolis development precinct itself.
“Accordingly, there is no conflict,” it said. “Prior to engaging Iemma Patterson Premier Advisory Pty Ltd, Mr Patterson advised us that he had followed all necessary protocols for an exiting parliamentarian transitioning into consulting.”
