The fine, the party, and the building watchdog that went quiet
A major developer was disciplined. A media release was drafted. Then nothing. Why did NSW's building watchdog go quiet?
The NSW building watchdog quietly abandoned a draft media release detailing record fines imposed on developer Aland. Internal emails revealed senior officials opted for a reactive-only approach, keeping disciplinary action out of the spotlight. The decision came months after the building commissioner, James Sherrard, attended a party hosted by Aland while the company was under investigation.
Despite imposing the maximum fine of $220,000 against Aland's construction arm and its founder Andrew Hrsto being fined $40,000, the watchdog chose not to announce the disciplinary action publicly. The regulator's move followed internal discussions about the public's perception of the developer's failings, with efforts shifting towards fostering confidence in the struggling sector.
The decision to scrap the media release led to the use of a holding statement, which was only provided upon request. The controversy arose when the watchdog held a $375 million Archibald project opening event for Aland despite the ongoing investigation, leading to minimal public attention on the issue.
Written by urgent.news from ABC News AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
