There was no evidence of criminal conduct in the government's decision to purchase land for the Western Sydney Airport for $33 million when it was valued at just $3 million, police investigators have found.
In 2018, the Commonwealth bought a 12.26-hectare parcel of land known as the Leppington Triangle for $32.8 million, 10 times what it was valued.
The Department of Infrastructure was heavily criticised by the National Audit Office and in an independent review commissioned by the department for the massively overvalued purchase.
That review found the department was too focused on maintaining a good relationship with the billionaire owners of the Leppington Triangle.
The deal was referred to Australian Federal Police (AFP) by the audit office in July last year, after auditors found information it "couldn't explain", that suggested the Commonwealth had been defrauded.
Then-Nationals backbencher Barnaby Joyce at the time said people in the department should expect to be sacked over the purchase.
"The discrepancy between price is incredibly hard to explain and if people want to do something as blatant and stupid as that, then expect to be investigated and expect heads to roll," he said.
Today, the AFP closed its investigation, and in a statement said there was no evidence of a crime.
"The financial analysis undertaken as part of the investigation found no evidence of Commonwealth officials obtaining a personal benefit from the acquisition, or other persons receiving or paying corrupt payments," the AFP said.
Investigators assessed financial documents and spoke to officials involved in the deal at the Department of Infrastructure, as well as with the audit office.
Police were considering whether there had been any evidence a Commonwealth official had been bribed, whether there had been a conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth, or whether there had been an abuse of public office.
But it found the purchase was completely in line with the Lands Acquisition Act (1989).
The operation was overseen by the AFP's Sensitive Investigation Oversight Board, which supported the findings of the investigation.
