By Matthew Moore Urban Affairs Editor
THE former federal Labor minister Graham Richardson last month lobbied the head of the NSW Planning Department over his refusal to rezone land owned by a client involved in a bitter dispute with murdered standover man Michael McGurk.
The director-general of the Department of Planning, Sam Haddad, confirmed that Mr Richardson met him and other officials of the department to find out why they had not rezoned land in western Sydney bought by Mr Medich 13 years ago. ''As a registered lobbyist, Mr Richardson has met with Mr Haddad and relevant departmental staff regarding the reasons why the former CSIRO site was not included in the recently announced rezoning of 800 hectares of employment land within the western Sydney employment area,'' a spokesman for the department confirmed in a statement last night.
Before he was shot dead outside his house on Thursday, Mr McGurk told the Herald that Mr Medich was paying Mr Richardson $25,000 a month as a retainer to push his property interests, which include long-running attempts to rezone a 344-hectare block of land formerly owned by the CSIRO at Badgerys Creek.
The NSW Planning Minister, Kristina Keneally, said neither she nor her staff ''can recall'' ever having had conversations or communications with Mr McGurk or Mr Medich or anyone representing their interests.
Despite his reputation as a highly effective lobbyist, the department insists Mr Richardson did not sway its decision to leave Mr Medich's land with a rural zoning. ''The matters raised by Mr Richardson have been considered by the department solely on their merits and there has been no change to the planning status of the former CSIRO site subsequent to this meeting, nor as the result of any representation by Mr Richardson,'' the spokesman said.
Mr Medich bought the land at a time when Badgerys Creek was under consideration as the site of a second airport. When proposals were abandoned, its potential for a rise in value was linked to plans for the area to be developed for employment.
It was included in a huge area of about 10,000 hectares that the department had identified in the region and named the Western Sydney Employment Lands Investigation Area.
Two parcels of land from that area have been rezoned, the first named the Western Sydney Employment Hub (at the intersection of the M7 and M4) with the second announced last month when a further 800 hectares was added. It was the second decision that prompted Mr Richardson to take up the matter on behalf of Mr Medich with the head of planning.