$13m mistake: valuer says $80m water buyback price was not in line with its advice

Colliers International tells auditor general the way the agriculture department used its valuation to set record purchase price was not reasonable'

An internal investigation is under way into why the federal government paid at least $13m over the odds for an $80m water buyback from Eastern Australia Agriculture - a company linked to federal MP Angus Taylor - in 2017.

The auditor general, Grant Hehir, who reviewed the government's water purchase program last year, contacted the valuer used by the Department of Agriculture for the sale, Colliers International, after receiving a complaint from a senator about the audit findings.