Abstract: This paper is a critique of the privatization of the ‘Public Purpose Rule’ in the compulsory acquisition of land in Australia and United States. Traditionally the domain of government for the provision of public infrastructure in serving the needs of the community, ‘public purpose’ provisions in compulsory acquisition legislation remain elusive and non-descript. In the absence of explicit definitions, this determination has been left to the courts. In demonstrating moves by Local Government to privatize and commercialize the ‘Public Purpose Rule’, two landmark cases have been used to juxtapose the privatization of this rule through the use of compulsory acquisition for ‘economic development’ purposes in the United States and Australia. The aim of this paper through the study of these cases is to match the privatization of compulsory acquisition with requisite compensation for dispossessed parties, in concert with funding local government, in achieving acquisition by negotiation over compulsory acquisition.