The governmentâs $29.8m purchase price was $26.7m more than the âfair valueâ reported in the infrastructure departmentâs financial statements, the ANAO said.
Fletcher â who is now the communications minister â has previously defended his handling of the matter, saying he had been presented with a âhighly inadequate briefâ that did not outline the landâs true value.
The advice the department provided to Fletcher has now been revealed, with the Coalition releasing a bundle of documents in response to a Senate âorder to produceâ. They were all tabled in the Senate.
A document prepared in late January 2018 and marked for Fletcher but also copied to the deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, said the department had held discussions with the owner, the Leppington Pastoral Company, âover the last few yearsâ.