CEO Mike Dillon told the committee that the former Indigenous Affairs Minister wrote numerous letters advising the ILC against the purchase.
After the controversial purchase of the Ayers Rock Resort three years ago, there are many questions that still remain unanswered.
West Australian Liberal Senator Dean Smith says former Labor Ministers, Jenny Macklin and Penny Wong should have asked the Australian National Audit Office to examine the purchase at the time it was made.
“They said scrutiny by an independent regulatory body, like the audit office, was not a good idea. That doesn't make sense,” Senator Smith said.
But Mr Dillon made it clear that it's neither about the management of Ayers Rock Resort nor about the training programs provided on site. Rather, it is about the decision to buy it in the first place.
He estimates this one decision will affect the core function of the ILC for the next 15 years.
Its budget each year is 35 million dollars, and 20 million dollars of that will now go towards paying back the loan used to buy the resort.
The Indigenous Land Corporation has invited the firm McGrath Nicholl to audit the entire operation.
The report is due for release next year.
