Deputy prime minister defends decision not to declare his land holdings near train line when cabinet passed the proposal in 2016

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Barnaby Joyce says there was no conflict of interest in his ownership of more than $500,000 worth of land holdings, which is why he did not declare it during cabinet deliberations about an inland rail project that passes within 15km of it.

On Wednesday The Daily Telegraph reported Joyce had bought a property in Warrumbungle shire, in northern New South Wales, in July 2006 for $230,000 and added adjacent lots in Gwabegar in February 2008 for $342,571.

Joyce declared the rural property at Gwabegar on his register of interests, but reportedly did not declare the land holding in cabinet when in 2016 it passed the proposal for the Melbourne-to-Brisbane inland rail brought by the then-infrastructure minister, Darren Chester.

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The inland rail project includes 300km of new track between Narromine and Narrabri and passes within 15km of Gwabegar, although the nearest stop is in Narrabri, about 100km or one-and-a-half hour’s drive away.

The cabinet handbook states ministers and officials in cabinet “must declare any private interests of which they are aware”.

“This can include pecuniary interests, held by them or by members of their immediate family, which may give rise to a conflict with their public duties,” it says.

The Daily Telegraph report suggested Joyce could benefit from an uplift in the property value when the inland rail is completed.

A spokeswoman for Joyce told Guardian Australia the deputy prime minister had complied with the cabinet rule to declare pecuniary interests. Joyce had no role in selecting the route and had “never had any discussions” with Chester about the inland rail route in NSW, she said.

“There has never been a proposal to have a stop near Warrumbungle or Gwabegar,” the spokeswoman said.

“The fact that a train may travel some 15km away from your property and finally come to halt after another 100km of travel, cannot possibly or reasonably constitute a conflict of interest; more so when the rail route was determined by another minister.”

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The land holding is and has always been publicly declared and has been “written and spoken about in numerous media outlets over an extended period of time”, Joyce’s spokeswoman said.



The current inland rail route does not go through Gwabegar, but a study of the route in 2010 did examine it passing through Gwabegar as one of four options between Narromine and Moree.

At a press conference in Rockhampton, the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, said someone in cabinet had leaked that Joyce didn’t declare a conflict of interest during cabinet deliberations, showing that “[Malcolm] Turnbull’s front bench is undermining each other”.

“As to the actual substance – it’s up to the PM to explain: is he satisfied with Mr Joyce’s conduct?” Shorten said.

The Labor leader said the Australian public was not interested in Joyce’s private life but “whether there has been any use of public office for private gain”.

“People will say what’s going on with special jobs being created? Why does a bloke on $420,000 a year need free rent from a rich property developer mate? The question is – if he’s buying half a million dollars’ worth of land, is it all declared?” Shorten said.