The state government has rejected a plan to create a Silicon Valley-style technology hub on the old rail yards near Redfern, leaving tech giant Google once again searching for Australian headquarters.

The hub, which would have created as many as 19,000 jobs, would have been Google’s new base but cabinet’s infrastructure committee last week rejected the proposal because it did not meet a “uniqueness test”.

Developer Mirvac submitted a plan through the government’s unsolicited proposal process to redevelop the site next to Carriageworks at Eveleigh into a tech hub with Google as the anchor tenant, the Herald revealed last month.

However, the proposal failed at the first hurdle after the government stated its preference for the land, which is owned by Transport for NSW, to be developed through a competitive open process.