Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt has ruled out selling the Malabar Headland, declaring the "cathedral of nature" will stay in public hands forever.
Mr Hunt's promise came just hours after Fairfax Media revealed the findings of a report commissioned by the Abbott government, which said the Commonwealth-owned land was "surplus to requirements" and would generate a "significant return" if sold.
Mr Hunt appeared on 2GB radio on Thursday to "categorically rule out, on behalf of the government, any proposal or plan to sell, divest or develop" all or part of the headland.
"It will be kept in public hands in perpetuity," he said, adding that the government was working to return a disabled horseriding group that was evicted from the land under the former Labor government.
Despite the federal Department of Finance having commissioned the consultants' report, Mr Hunt said: "I haven't seen it, the Prime Minister hasn't seen it. It's not government policy."
In a statement, he said the land was "one of Sydney's last undeveloped headlands ... I am passionate about ensuring this magnificent headland is retained in public hands forever". Later, on Sky News, Mr Hunt described the headland as a "cathedral of nature".
However, his definitive remarks contradict the government's unresolved position a day earlier. When asked about the potential sale on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for Michael McCormack, the parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Finance, said the government had "not yet made a decision in relation to the future of Malabar Headland".
NSW Environment Minister Rob Stokes welcomed Mr Hunt's statement on Thursday, which defuses a potentially toxic issue before the March state election.
"We remain committed to protecting the headland and ensuring that the largest remaining stretch of untouched bushland between Botany Bay and South Head remains in public ownership," Mr Stokes said.
The consultants' findings were criticised by Randwick Council and state and federal Labor MPs.
NSW Labor's Maroubra MP Michael Daley said the federal government could not be trusted.
"They've made these commitments in the past. They've always said they want to keep Malabar Headland [in public hands] but they still commissioned a secret report," he said.
Randwick Council acting mayor Anthony Andrews hoped the announcement meant the council could access the headland to complete a coastal walkway extension linking Maroubra and Malabar beaches.
The consultants' report suggested that selling at least part of the headland for development was required to meet the government's aim of maximising a return to the Commonwealth within four years.
The document was obtained by Fairfax Media under freedom of information laws.
"Divestment of the site will relieve the Commonwealth of an ongoing financial liability associated with the maintenance and decontamination of the site," it said.
Up to 48 hectares, or a third of the 160-hectare headland separating Malabar and Maroubra beaches, was earmarked in the document as suitable for possible mixed-use development following remediation.
By contrast, handing over the entire headland for public open space, as had been proposed by the former federal Labor government, "does little to improve the economic capital of the site" and "provides limited opportunity for the private sector to contribute", the report said.
