Former Sustainable Land Strategy director Greg Ellis, broke his silence on Thursday to hit back at the findings of an audit into the land deal, which said the Economic Development Directorate didn't conduct the tender effectively and failed to get value for money.

Mr Ellis - who brokered the deal in 2013 - claims the land was never going to sell for the best price, because Cabinet decided it had to be sold within eight months, allegedly for political reasons.

That quick turnaround meant the bureaucracy couldn't do its usual due diligence on the block, meaning the buyer was assuming some risk, and the land came with the caveat that development couldn't begin until the neighbouring Coles redevelopment was done, Mr Ellis said.

Mr Ellis claimed he warned government about this, and that warning should have been contained in a series of documents, boxed up and sent to the Land Development Agency after he left the public service, or in his email trails. The ACT Auditor-General could not find that box when compiling her report.

However a spokesman for ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said no concerns about the timeline were ever raised.

Mr Barr made a rare appearance before media on Thursday to spruik a new deal between baseball team Canberra Cavalry and the Japanese club BayStars.

He would not take questions outside of a panel with Japanese Ambassador Sumio Kusaka and Cavalry player Kyle Perkins, but in an emailed statement his spokesman said the auditor-general found no evidence to substantiate the belief of political interference, after interviewing those involved.

He said it was the directorate that recommended to cabinet the direct sale of the land to the Tradies, a fact that's detailed in the audit.

"It was recommended that the sale of the block would enable the further implementation of the Dickson Centre Master Plan. This involved an increase in affordable housing to meet the objectives of the Affordable Housing Action Plan," Mr Barr's spokesman said.

"It was made clear to the Cabinet that the sequencing of the associated developments on the two car park sites in the Dickson Town Centre would be important to avoid major parking issues and community dissatisfaction.

"The Cabinet rejected the proposal, and instead opted for an open, competitive process where the block would be taken to market in the current financial year. This allowed a reasonable timeframe of more than eight months for the tender process to be completed. At no stage in this process were any concerns raised about timeframes."

Mr Barr's spokesman also pointed out the block was not brought to market and auctioned in 2011-12, and Cabinet had said the successful tenderer would be decided in November 2012, after the election.

"Again, this is detailed in the Auditor-General’s report," he said.

Meanwhile Mr Ellis released a further statement on Thursday, saying Auditor-General Dr Maxine Cooper left him and other public servants named by title in her report under a cloud as she said she could not exclude corruption as a factor in the deal.

In doing so, Mr Ellis said the auditor-general had "effectively reversed the onus of proof", and he had been forced to go public to defend his reputation.

"As I am fed up with the trial by media her comments have provoked, I hereby challenge the Auditor-General to go down to ACT Policing and suggest they investigate me. If she is not willing to do that then she should apologise to me and anyone else tarred by her sweeping statement," Mr Ellis said.

"I would much prefer to be investigated by the police and have the opportunity to be cleared than to be in a limbo of presumed guilt because the Auditor-General has decided corruption is something she can’t exclude."

The auditor-general has said previously she had not made any referrals to police as a result of the report, but a lack of documentation meant she could rule criminality neither in or out.

The audit office declined on Thursday to comment on Mr Ellis' ultimatum.

Canberra Liberals leader Alistair Coe said every aspect of the deal was troubling and there was "a lot more work to be done to get all the answers that Canberrans deserve".

He also said the claim that an adviser from Mr Barr's office checked in regularly about the progress of the deal "escalated the scandal" (Mr Barr's spokesman previously said it was standard for advisers to make sure Cabinet decisions were being carried out).

ACT Greens crossbencher Caroline Le Couteur said people in Canberra deserved to have confidence that their land and their taxes were being managed in the interests of all, not just an inside few.

She said the sooner an ACT integrity commission was established, the sooner questions would be resolved.

“The LDA may be gone, but the community still does not have answers to the questions raised by the three Auditor-General’s reports into its dealings," Ms  Le Couteur said.

“Without a doubt, unpicking the process around this Dickson land swap needs to be on the ‘to-do’ list of the ACT’s new Integrity Commission and the Greens will ensure it is."