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How key McGowan ministers pushed $57m Broome development

Senior McGowan Government ministers directly intervened to clear the way for a lucrative Broome development proposed by an Aboriginal corporation with strong ties to the Labor Party. The $57 million development — a homemaker’s centre near Broome Airport anchored by Bunnings — is on land owned by Nyamba Buru Yawuru, the operational arm of the Yawuru native title group. Before the project had even been approved the McGowan Government pledged $7 million for site works. Then in August — at the request of Treasurer Ben Wyatt — Planning Minister Rita Saffioti took the extraordinary step of calling in the proposal for her own personal determination after it was rejected by a panel of independent experts. One of Mr Wyatt’s closest advisers, Howard Pedersen, was a long-time senior policy adviser for NBY. In a media statement Thursday — which followed questions from The Sunday Times earlier this month and was released hours after a bombshell Corruption and Crime Commission report into the conduct of former Liberal MPs — Ms Saffioti acknowledged “representations made by (Mr Wyatt)”. She said she had resolved to approve the project because of its “potential to create significant, ongoing economic benefits for the Broome community… through local employment opportunities during planning and construction, and in the longer term”. Late Friday Mr Wyatt released a statement of his own — again with no fanfare — publicly revealing the $7 million commitment, which was framed as COVID-19 recovery spending. The McGowan Government declined to comment on whether Mr Pedersen had lobbied for the homemaker’s centre, or his involvement with the project since joining Mr Wyatt’s office. First proposed in 2016, the Broome Homemaker’s Centre requires the rezoning of a block of NBY-owned land directly adjacent to the town’s airport. In June, that rezoning application was knocked back by the WA Planning Commission because it did not comply with the relevant town-planning framework. The Shire of Broome council had also recommended refusal, highlighting it faced opposition from nearby neighbours — including 17 written submissions — was inconsistent with local planning strategy and would be better located alongside similar businesses in a different part of the town. The only supporting submission came from NBY itself. At that point, Ms Saffioti advised NBY to appeal the decision to the State Administrative Tribunal, allowing her to exercise her power to “call in” the project for her own personal consideration. It was just the fifth development Ms Saffioti has called in, a mechanism reserved for proposals that “raise issues of such State or regional importance” it is “appropriate” they are determined by the Planning Minister. A letter from Mr Wyatt to Ms Saffioti obtained by The West Australian — and dated one week prior to the decision to call in the project — highlighted the Department of Premier and Cabinet had been working with NBY on the proposal since 2019, including seconding a public servant to the corporation for a total of eight weeks, and it represented an economic boon not just to the native title group but the entire region. “NBY has lodged an appeal before the State Administrative Tribunal for the zoning matter to be resolved,” Mr Wyatt wrote. “However, the appeal process is likely to be protracted and the risk of losing the potential anchor tenant due to timing is considered urgent. “As such, I am seeking your assistance in your capacity as Minister for Planning, to exercise your delegation to overturn the Statutory Planning Committee’s (SPC’s) decision.” Correspondence from Broome chief executive Sam Mastrolembo to Ms Saffioti following the decision to call in the development rebutted the supposed economic benefits used to justify the move. Mr Mastrolembo wrote the local government had recently received a separate application for a similar “service commercial” project — which was also in talks with Bunnings — on a more appropriately-zoned site. “Accordingly, this is likely to result in no loss of economic benefit for the broader region, for local employment and for local building contractors,” he said. He also pointed out the apparent inconsistency in Ms Saffioti’s August 2019 release of the Action Plan for Planning Reform which “specifically references that planning should be strategically led”. “The Shire supports the view expressed in the minutes of the SPC that approval of the structure plan would set a poor precedence, particularly in light of the action plan,” Mr Mastrolembo said. “The support of a structure plan which is inconsistent with local planning strategy would erode community confidence in the reform agenda.” While the broader Broome community was not advised of an opportunity to make submissions for Ms Saffioti’s consideration, NBY chief executive Susan Bergersen lobbied Broome businesses and organisations to pen letters of support. “We have been informed by the Minister’s office that standard “proforma” letters or emails of support are not helpful, with them instead advising that independently formulated letters carry most weight,” Ms Bergersen wrote in one email sighted by The Sunday Times. Ms Saffioti received 14 letters of support, with just two opposed, ahead of making her final determination. In the same letter, Ms Bergersen wrote NBY had been “partnering with the WA Government” and that both parties had been “surprised and disappointed” by WAPC’s decision to knock back the proposal. She also said appealing “allows the Minister to bypass the SAT and make a decision independent of the normal process if a project is deemed to be of State or Regional significance”. Ms Bergersen told The Sunday Times NBY had never donated money to WA Labor — or any political party — and that the organisation had “worked cooperatively with successive State Governments over more than a decade” in accordance with the Indigenous Land Use Agreement signed in 2010. According to annual reports, NBY’s operating losses grew every year between 2015-16 and 2018-19 and totalled just over $8 million in that period, although the corporation retained $95 million worth of assets, most of which is property. Ms Bergersen did not respond to a question about whether NBY could afford to fund development of the Broome Homemaker Centre without WA Government support. Mr Wyatt said he had “never been afraid to use the investment capability available to the State Government to cut through the regular road blocks presented by local government authorities”. “I believe the development of a bulky goods retail precinct would generate broader economic benefits to the Kimberley and bring new and larger business ventures to the region that could rely on locally-purchased goods, previously only accessible through Perth or other areas of the State. “As Treasurer and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs I have been determined to ensure that public investment in infrastructure not only maximises public amenity, but, where able, maximises the economic development opportunities for Aboriginal Western Australians.”

exclusiveHow key McGowan ministers pushed $57m Broome development

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How key McGowan ministers pushed $57m Broome development