NSW Reconstruction Authority chief executive Simon Draper told budget estimates on Friday that former police deputy commissioner Dave Owens had a conflict of interest over the 74-page Hawkesbury-Nepean flood evacuation modelling report that was made public this week.
Former police deputy commissioner Dave Owens has been a leading critic of the flood modelling report.Darren Pateman
On Sunday,NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully announced the cancellation of planned rezonings for about 10,000 new homes in Sydney’s north-west,at Marsden Park and Riverstone,because of fears the developments would stop people from evacuating the Hawkesbury-Nepean floodplain.
Councils have suggested that the government’s flood modelling report,which informed the minister’s decision,will diminish property values or put upward pressure on insurance premiums.
On Thursday,2GB’s Chris O’Keefe detailed Owens’ extensive criticism of the flood report – contained in correspondence sent to the government earlier this year – saying assumptions underpinning the modelling were “extremely flawed,even farcical”.
In February,the former Coalition government appointed Owens to the reconstruction authority as a board director while it was undertaking modelling and research for the flood report. He resigned in August.
In the estimates hearing on Friday,Draper said the assessment of the Hawkesbury-Nepean floodplain became “very problematic” when Owens made personal representations to him on behalf of developers over the report.
Planning Minister Paul Scully (middle) next to Reconstruction Authority chief executive Simon Draper (right) during budget estimates on Friday.Dominic Lorrimer
“I referred his representations to me to our governance staff at the reconstruction authority because,in effect,Mr Owens,was making representations on behalf of property developers to a public official when he was a member of the reconstruction authority board,” he said.
The NSW government has rejected suggestions that the report will have a detrimental impact on existing home values,insurance premiums or meeting the future housing needs of Sydney’s west.
Owens said he had declared his conflict of interest each time it arose on the reconstruction authority board,saying he had not registered as a lobbyist because he was not required to do so,and “wasn’t lobbying for anyone.”
“I don’t lobby government. I was pointing out a fact. Simple as that. And if the government chose to ignore it,they can ignore it.”
Owens called on the government to publish the data that underpinned the flood modelling,which he reiterated was “flawed”.
Planning Minister Paul Scully rejected criticism of the report during the estimates hearing,saying a number of variables fed into insurance pricing,and the modelling would not have a material effect on cost.
“All sorts of other things come into play,and the suggestion that property values of existing residents and their homes might be undermined is just wrong. What we’re talking about is the risk of adding more residents,” he said.
Asked to guarantee that insurance premiums wouldn’t increase,Scully replied:“I don’t sell insurance premiums,so I can’t make any guarantees about what private organisations are going to do.”
The estimates hearing also heard had cleared the planning department and former secretary Michael Cassel of any wrongdoing over the rezoning of land at Appin - south-west of Sydney - for 13,000 new homes in November last year.
The land is 93 per cent owned by developer Walker Corp,which received development approval in July under Labor. Cassel officially left the public service at the end of June and began a senior role with Walker Corp in mid-August,the hearing heard.
Planning Department secretary Kiersten Fishburn said the review by law firm Maddocks found “no wrongdoing or probity concerns on the part of the department or Mr Cassel,none have been identified,and all decisions were lawfully available to be made”.
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