In short:
NSW's building watchdog quietly dumped a draft media release about record fines imposed on developer Aland.
asserted
watchdog → dump → Aland
Internal emails revealed senior officials approved a "reactive-only" strategy, indicating a shift in approach to keep disciplinary action against developers out of the spotlight.
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officials → reveal → spotlight
The decision came months after the building commissioner attended an Aland-hosted event while the company was under investigation.
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company → come → investigation
Internal government emails reveal NSW's building watchdog killed a media release detailing disciplinary action against developer Aland, despite imposing the maximum fine available and sanctioning its founder.
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watchdog → reveal → founder
The decision to quietly shelve the release came months after Building Commissioner James Sherrard attended a party hosted by the developer while the company was under investigation.
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company → shelve → investigation
Aland is one of Western Sydney's largest developers and plays a key role in the NSW government's push to meet ambitious housing targets.
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Aland → play → targets
Behind the scenes, however, Building Commission NSW investigators had spent years examining the company's conduct.
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investigators → spend → conduct
In April, Aland's construction arm was fined $220,000; the largest penalty ever imposed by the regulator.
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arm → fin → regulator
Its founder, Andrew Hrsto, was personally fined $40,000 and ordered to sit compliance training to retain his licence.
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founder → fin → licence
Breaches included the use of unlicensed contractors and the unauthorised removal of a power pole, overhead wires and street lighting at a St Mary's construction site, which cut electricity to a childcare centre and risked public safety.
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which → include → safety
When it came time to announce the significant disciplinary action, documents obtained under Freedom of Information reveal a flurry of discussions about what the public should be told.
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public → come → what
It points to a recalibration of the watchdog's strategy, with efforts focused on fostering confidence in the struggling sector, rather than publicly spotlighting a developer's failings.
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efforts → point → failings
Internal emails and texts
At 1:03pm on Tuesday, April 28, a senior media advisor at the Department of Customer Service, which handles communications for Building Commission NSW, circulated a draft media release titled: "Building Commission NSW takes disciplinary action against Aland."
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NSW → handle → Aland
Less than two hours later, the advisor emailed the Office of the Building Commission again.
"Hey all, going to make some further changes to this one."
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advisor → email → one
By Wednesday, the planned media release had been abandoned.
"Any word on when we'll receive the Aland briefing pack?
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we → plan → pack
Just keen to start briefing on my end," a staffer from Fair Trading Minister Anoulack Chanthivong's office texted the media adviser on April 29.
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staffer → start → April
"Holding statement at this point," came the reply.
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reply → hold → point
Unlike a media release, which is proactively published and distributed to media outlets, a holding statement is generally only provided if a journalist specifically asks about the matter.
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journalist → publish → matter
Internally, discussions continued.
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discussions → continue → ?
By the afternoon of April 29, a draft holding statement was sent to management.
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statement → hold → management
"Approved," Mr Sherrard replied at 4:26pm.
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Sherrard → approve → 4:26pm
The statement was forwarded to the minister's office.
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statement → forward → office
On Friday, May 1, a ministerial staffer responded:
"Please see approved lines … these are for reactive only at this stage."
uncertain
these → respond → stage
Days later, a separate building commission staff member queried why no media release had been issued.
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release → query → ?
The senior media advisor replied:
"We've got ALAND in hand — no proactive comms at this stage."
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We → reply → stage
The decision meant disciplinary action taken against the developer for serious misconduct was never proactively announced to the public, despite plans to do so.
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action → mean → plans
The ABC asked whether Mr Sherrard, Mr Chanthivong, or either of their offices had requested or supported the decision to dump the release.
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Sherrard → ask → release
A spokesperson for the Department of Customer Service said the building watchdog did not "routinely issue a media release for every disciplinary action".
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watchdog → say → action
Yet in the same month, the regulator publicly announced action taken against two plumbers who used fake advertisements, issuing a media release detailing their penalties.
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who → announce → penalties
The approved holding statement, to be provided only to journalists who requested it, contained quotes attributable to the NSW building commissioner.
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who → approve → commissioner
"Throughout the disciplinary proceedings Aland and Mr Hrsto fully co-operated with Building Commission NSW and have already made changes to their business," Mr Sherrard said in the statement.
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Sherrard → co → statement
A Department of Customer Service spokesperson told the ABC disciplinary action was published on the Verify NSW website, which can be searched by members of the public.
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which → tell → public
A spokesperson for Aland said it was working with the regulator to "further strengthen our processes" and reaffirmed its commitment to "continually improving our already high standards," pointing to its gold star iCIRT rating.
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it → say → rating
Five months before the regulator ditched the draft media release, Mr Sherrard attended a ritzy event hosted by Aland to mark the opening of its $375 million Archibald project on the Central Coast.
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Sherrard → ditch → Coast
Mr Sherrard told budget estimates in August he was aware the firm was under investigation at the time, but was "not concerned about the optics of it" as the probe had "all but concluded", and the developer had been working to address shortcomings.
"
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developer → tell → shortcomings
I knew the details of what the offences were …
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offences → know → details
I keep at arm's length from the disciplinary proceedings team in making a determination about what penalties to apply," he said last month.
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he → keep → penalties
Mr Sherrard was joined at the Gosford ribbon-cutting ceremony by NSW Premier Chris Minns, who spruiked Aland and told the crowd the development was "fantastic for NSW".
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development → join → NSW
Those comments, along with a clip of the building commissioner shaking hands with the Aland founder, was later featured in promotional material for the company.
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commissioner → shake → company
For a developer who is no stranger to public scrutiny, the regulator's action attracted remarkably little attention.
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action → attract → attention
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia