THE justification a former board of the Indigenous Land Corporation used for borrowing almost $200 million to buy the Ayers Rock Resort has been described as "paltry as a bandicoot's breakfast." Its new chief executive officer Michael Dillon also told a Senate hearing on Friday the $317 million purchase in 2010 had been "disastrous." The resort's manager Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia, a subsidiary of the corporation, has reported losses of more than $100 million. That included a $62 million writedown of the value of the property. Mr Dillon said the previous board had made assumptions that revenue would cover the interest and principle of the loan. "The reality is that just 2.5 years in, those assumptions have been proven ... not just wrong but fundamentally and absolutely incorrect," he told an estimates hearing in Canberra. The transaction would harm the corporations's core functions for 15 to 20 years, in the absence of a major turnaround in the territory's tourism sector. The corporation has requested a parliamentary committee initiate an inquiry into the matter. Mr Dillon said the previous board's decision to buy the resort was "inexplicable and inexcusable." Board members who expressed reservations were essentially sidelined. Former indigenous affairs minister Jenny Macklin and finance minister Penny Wong both wrote to the board raising concerns. "These letters were indeed the strongest-worded letters I've ever seen from a minister to a statutory corporation in my 30 years of public sector experience," Mr Dillon said. The reply from former corporation chair Shirley McPherson's was "paltry as a bandicoot's breakfast." Senator Wong, who wrote to the board a day before the sale, asked the purchase be deferred but the board replied that the deal was "too good" to be put on hold. The ministers had done as much as they could within their powers, Mr Dillon said. However, he later admitted that Ms Macklin had failed to get the Australian National Audit Office to audit the matter, as requested by the corporation instead recommending an internal review. The $390,000 review by McGrathNicol, is due to report in early 2014. Liberal senator Dean Smith queried whether the ministers did everything they could. "They consciously and deliberately said scrutiny by an independent body like the independent audit office was not a good idea," he told the hearing. It sounds like they put their foot on the cable in regards to an audit office inquiry. The Northern Territory resort offers a variety of accommodation, including the luxury five-star Sails in the Desert Hotel comprising 228 rooms and suites that can cost well over $400 a night. Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion told the hearing Ms McPherson was a distinguished Australian. "She had made a great contribution to public life," he said, referring to her work as an accountant, sports achievements and involvement with the United Nations. He said Mr Dillon should apologise for his "bandicoot's breakfast" comment regarding Ms McPherson's contribution.