The Andrews government was negotiating with the consortium behind plans for a $31 billion Werribee “super city” right up until the project was scrapped, the chairman claims in Supreme Court documents.
Chinese-backed Australian Education City was picked as the preferred developer in 2015 to turn a huge parcel of publicly-owned land in East Werribee into a sprawling education, research and housing precinct. But the project was abandoned by the Andrews government last month.
The consortium has now gone to court to recoup the $93 million it claims it has invested over five years. In a writ filed in the Supreme Court, AEC executive chairman Bill Zheng named several Andrews government ministers and officials he said continued to negotiate with him until the proposal was dumped.
The consortium said it met several times with government officials throughout 2018. It was told that “the ministers had no desire [to make a decision] in relation to the project prior to the state election” in November 2018, “and that the project would be dealt with after that time”.
The writ claims AEC met again with state bureaucrats in December 2018 and March 2019, including meetings with a deputy secretary, David Latina, in the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources.
Assistant Treasurer Robin Scott is named as a defendant in the proceeding, along with Priority Precincts Minister Gavin Jennings.
The affidavit claims that Treasury secretary David Martine told the consortium in March 2018 that Mr Scott was “very keen” on AEC’s proposal.
The government cancelled the process of negotiating with AEC last month, with Mr Jennings issuing a media release saying the government would “continue to explore ways of maximising Werribee’s potential”.
Treasurer Tim Pallas did not answer questions last week on whether the government would pay the consortium the $93 million it is asking for.
“People have rights and they’re pursuing those,” said Mr Pallas, who promised to “defend the state’s interests”.
Opposition leader Michael O’Brien said the project had been badly bungled by the Andrews government, delaying jobs and housing for people in Melbourne’s west.
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The Age
