The former directorate's then-director of sustainable land strategy, Greg Ellis, fronted the Legislative Assembly public accounts committee inquiry into the controversial land swap for the second time on Wednesday.

The inquiry is investigating the late 2014 deal between the government and the CFMEU-linked Tradies Club, which the ACT auditor-general found gave the club up to $2.65 million in favourable concessions.

The deal involved the government selling the club a carpark outside the club, with the club selling the government two nearby blocks in return.

Mr Ellis was asked about evidence from staffer Graham Mundy that he found two boxes of files including documents about the land swap, though Mr Mundy believed that was all there was.

Mr Mundy had told the inquiry he found the boxes of loose documents in the office of former consultant, Richard Drummond, after a search of electronic files unearthed little.

But Mr Ellis said he was known for detailed record-keeping and minutes he sent around after any meetings, but he was unsure if the minutes had been retained after he left the government in early 2014.

He said that from Mr Mundy's evidence it was clear the box, or boxes, of documents he had earlier believed missing had been found; though there still may have been emailed minutes of up to three meetings he took that had not come to light.

Mr Ellis said he also believed the audit office had misinterpreted the then-club chief financial officer Stephen Brennan when he said there had been up to 40 meetings and/or phone calls during the negotiations, saying during his tenure there were only three meetings.

He also said that as a public servant, he had been inflexible about negotiating after the club won the initial tender, to the extent he believed it was about to fall over in early 2013.

But Mr Ellis said that was before then-Land Development Agency chief executive David Dawes brought in Colliers ACT to review earlier valuations of the blocks of land involved in the deal in a bid to provide more flexibility.

Mr Ellis also reiterated while he did not believe he was under political pressure for the club to win the tender, he received many phone calls from a staffer in then-Economic Development Minister Andrew Barr's office, Kurt Steel.

Mr Steel has since died, Mr Barr has denied any political pressure was brought to bear for the club to win the tender, and the audit office was unable to find any evidence of direct political involvement in the deal.

Despite the many phone calls Mr Ellis referred to, he said no matter how many times he spoke to Mr Steel or anyone else, he was never pressured other than to bring the block to market before the end of 2012, which he took to mean before the election.

Asked whether anyone actually told him to bring the block to market before the election, Mr Ellis said no, but he regularly got calls from the minister's office, which did not occur as often on other projects.

Asked by Opposition leader Alistair Coe whether the government had ever undertaken any other transaction involving a party trading land with the government instead of cash payment, Mr Ellis said he didn't know of any other case.

But he said that it made no difference whether it was in cash or in kind if it was the same value. Mr Dawes had told him that way it could go ahead, and he was aware Mr Dawes had other government objectives in mind.

Planning directorate director-general Ben Ponton also gave evidence, despite telling the committee he had no involvement in the land swap.

He said he found the agency's record-keeping standards could be improved, and he would have expected more information to be kept on centralised, digital files. The inquiry continues.