ACT Senator David Pocock and stakeholders at the CSIRO Ginninderra site in May. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
The CSIRO Ginninderra land divestment just gets curiouser and curiouser.
Not only are ‘negotiations’ ongoing, but the amount of land the ACT might acquire is nothing like the 700 hectares that appeared to be on the table.
This week, we learned after persistent questioning from independent MLA Thomas Emerson that the deal, if it goes ahead, will only cover 240 ha, specifically the eastern section known as Ginninderra East.
CSIRO wants to hang on to Ginninderra West and is assessing its development potential.
This was news to Mr Emerson, who, in a previous life, worked for Senator David Pocock and had been privy to briefings about the long-talked-about sale of the site to the ACT.
It was also news to Senator Pocock’s team, who now feel misled after being given an extremely detailed confidential briefing in August 2023 from CSIRO and the ACT Government, including a staffer from Chief Minister Andrew Barr’s office.
His office states that there was never any question that the entire site was being contemplated for sale.
In all the reporting on this issue, there has never been any mention that the deal was limited to Ginninderra East.
In May during the federal election campaign, Senator Pocock and ACT property industry and community stakeholders in major on-site press conference jointly called for the Commonwealth to get the deal done so the land, all 701 ha, could become available for much-needed housing.
No one questioned or corrected that figure.
The Ginninderra East option only came to light when Mr Emerson quizzed officials at Estimates about the potential housing yield, which turned out to be much lower than the 8000 homes previously mentioned.
That’s because it was for just the eastern portion of the land.
Last week in Question Time, New Homes and Suburbs Minister Yvette Berry confirmed that, yes, the never-ending negotiations were for Ginninderra East.
Apparently, the ACT could only handle the smaller acquisition, she told the Legislative Assembly.
“It is quite a big area to be providing more homes on and quite a significant amount of work,” she said.
“We couldn’t do it all at once.”
Again, that was news to everyone.
But if CSIRO wanted to divest Ginninderra West at some point, the ACT would be interested, Ms Berry said
Region later asked her office: “When did the ACT decide it could only handle the eastern portion, not the entire site?”
We did not receive an answer. Nor did her office say whether cost was a factor.
Federal Finance Minister Katy Gallagher signed off on the land transfer in February, leaving the Department of Industry, Science and Resources and the ACT to sort out the details, including the price.
But that approval only came to light in July in an exchange of letters between Senator Gallagher and Senator Pocock.
Nothing there about it being for just Ginninderra East.
Questions to Senator Gallagher’s office have gone unanswered.
These were: Is this [Ginninderra East] what the Finance Minister signed off on earlier this year? Was this always the case or did CSIRO have a change of mind at some point? What plans does CSIRO have for the rest of the site?
So why does this matter?
The ACT wants to build 30,000 new homes by 2030, and industry has been screaming for the land to make it happen.
According to Mr Emerson, the whole site would be enough for 8100 homes, more than a quarter of the government’s target, as opposed to Ginninderra East which, in the Suburban Land Agency’s estimation, would only yield 2984.
It’s a greenfield site, which means it would ease the pressure on established suburbs for infill development.
So what’s happened?
Good question.
In a vacuum, we can only speculate. However, perhaps CSIRO or the Commonwealth realised it was more beneficial to engage in some land banking in a rising market, or more could be realised through a separate sale.
Maybe the ACT Government came to the conclusion that it was biting off more than it could chew, given the Budget is crook and it will have to service the land.
Maybe everybody else simply got it wrong.
Who really knows because neither government is letting on what has really transpired.
At this point, the ACT still has nothing to show for more than a decade of negotiations, which continue to drag on.
Asked in the Assembly if a deal could be done by the end of the year, Ms Berry could not say.
But if there is a result, the ACT should still feel shortchanged.
