A massive new building proposed for the Northern Land Council in Berrimah will be built on land currently owned by Halikos Developments, who were gifted it for free by the government as part of the controversial Berrimah Farm land deal in 2016, according to documents obtained by the NT Independent.

Despite preliminary planning documents lodged with the NT Government stating the land is owned by the NLC, a property title search shows the land – valued at $3.7 million – is currently owned by Halikos Developments.

The NLC has refused to disclose the total cost of the project, but it’s estimated the new building could cost up to $50 million, which will also involve purchasing the land from Halikos.

The NLC claimed in a statement that the new facility, which will also include an ancillary warehouse, “light transport terminal” for its fleet and an “education” facility, will be paid for through the Aboriginal Benefits Account.

However, questions have also been raised about the NT Government’s involvement in the proposal, with preliminary planning documents clearly stating a consultant was engaged on behalf of the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics – not the NLC – to lodge and manage the development application.

“Cunnington Rosse Town Planning and Consulting have been engaged by Ashford Architects on behalf of the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics to prepare, lodge and manage a Development Application” the preliminary “statement of effect” report authored by Cunnington Rosse stated.

An NLC spokeswoman later said including DIPL in the report was “an administrative error, which has been fixed”. The NLC said it had hired the architect.

DIPL chief executive Andrew Kirkman did not respond to questions, including whether the government is contributing anything towards the new facility.

The NLC said in a statement that it identified the site as being suitable for their project after assessing “countless potential locations over three years”.

“We are excited by the design, which will create a sense of place and belonging to NLC’s staff, visitors and full council members,” said NLC chairman Samuel Bush-Blanasi.

“The facility will celebrate Top End Aboriginal culture within the design.”

NLC chief executive Joe Martin-Jard said the new facility will bring all NLC staff currently at three separate locations together.

“Having a new head office – one that is not leased and in a single location – will generate cost savings in the long run, while providing a strong focus on local labour, supplies and services,” he said.

“The economic impacts of the new office precinct to the NT economy will extend beyond the design and construction phase through permanent job creation.”

Auditor General raised concerns about free land deal with Halikos Group in 2018, questioned benefit to taxpayers

The new facility will face the Stuart Highway in Berrimah at the northwest end of the land Halikos acquired from the government in 2015 for free, despite another developer offering $30 million for the entire 168-hectare prime commercial property between Tiger Brennan Drive and the Stuart Highway.

Halikos has dubbed the development Northcrest and has progressed residential development in part of the area. The land had been estimated to be worth $1 billion once developed.

In 2018, NT Auditor General Julie Crisp found serious issues with the awarding of the land to Halikos Group, including that the valuation of the land was rushed, no cost-benefit analysis was done and financial and reputational risks were not adequately mitigated.

Ms Crisp had also flagged concerns that the scope of the project had changed significantly after it was awarded to Halikos from what was initially offered for public expressions of interest.

Her audit showed that included a $4.9 million buy-back section of land, as well as a government lease of office space on the site.

Various other requirements for infrastructure were also scrapped after the land deal was finalised with Halikos.

An inquiry was called into the land deal by parliament’s Public Accounts Committee later in 2018 but eventually dropped despite the committee acknowledging that infrastructure department officials withheld probity information on the deal.

The PAC acknowledged that it did not have “sufficient evidence to draw conclusions” but stopped short of referring it to a proper investigative body.

Their confusing report showed they had dropped the matter because they had claimed that lessons had already been learned for future land development projects. But because they were unable to conclude what happened behind closed doors when the scope of the project changed, those lessons were never made clear.

Halikos declined to comment on the new facility and if they intend to tender for the construction of the three-story building.