Showing posts with label NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). Show all posts
Showing posts with label NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). Show all posts

Sunday 5 March 2023

NSW Upper House Inquiry into Allegations of impropriety against agents of the Hills Shire Council and property developers in the region: Findings of the Inquiry & its recommendations have been published and it appears that NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet may have been mistaken in his assertion that there was nothing to find

 

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

Portfolio Committee No. 7 – Planning and Environment

Report 18

March 2023

Allegations of impropriety against agents of the Hills Shire Council and property developers in the region

Ordered to be printed 2 March 2023 according to Standing Order 238


At 4:17:38pm a 63.4MB, 478 page report was created in PDF form as Report no 18 - PC 7 - Hills Shire Council inquiry.pdf and subsequently published on the Parliament of New South Wales website at:


https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/inquiries/Pages/inquiry-details.aspx?pk=2908#tab-reportsandgovernmentresponses



The full report between Pages 170 to 477 contains  documentation supporting allegations of impropriety – some of it internal documents & correspondence generated by Liberals NSW (the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia), various state party members and/or NSW Liberal Party members of parliament. Included are various members of the Perrottet family. It makes for interesting reading.


Six witnesses who declined to attend the parliamentary inquiry are: NSW Liberal Party member Christian Ellis, The Hills Shire Cr. Virginia Ellis, NSW Liberal Party member Charles Perrottet, NSW Liberal Party member Jean-Claude Perrottet, NSW Liberal Party member & lobbyist Dylan Whitelaw and, property developer Jean Nassif.


Below is set out the text of the Committee Chair’s foreword to the report, the six official findings of the Inquiry and the eight formal recommendations.



Chair’s foreword


This has been an extraordinary inquiry – not so much for the information that has come to light – but for the gaping hole in evidence left by key witnesses who have gone to great lengths to avoid scrutiny.


The allegations that sparked this inquiry were made by an elected member of Parliament who is also a member of the Liberal Party. They were serious allegations of collusion between members of the Liberal party and a developer to replace elected members of The Hills Shire Council with new councillors who would be more amenable to that developer's interests. Revelations about branch-stacking activities in The Hills area that emerged in this inquiry are a related and additional source of concern. When branch stacking activities are linked to collusion with developers, they are not merely a distortion of democratic processes, they could amount to serious corruption.


The only way this committee could shed some light on these allegations is for those involved to come forward and give their account. Their co-ordinated, deliberate and serious efforts to evade scrutiny inevitably leave the perception that there is something to hide.


The lack of cooperation from key witnesses in this inquiry means that serious allegations of corruption by members of the Liberal Party in the Hills Shire have gone unanswered. Some have tried to justify their absence by questioning the integrity of this committee. The contempt shown for our role as an Upper House committee raises serious questions about the operation of the Liberal Party in NSW, and whether those seeking political power at local or state government level understand the principles of transparency and accountability that are central to a healthy democracy.


This inquiry has raised questions that are too serious to leave unanswered simply because this Parliament has run its course. For this reason, the committee has recommended that a new inquiry into these matters be established in the next Parliament. Essential to that will be the involvement of Christian Ellis, Charles Perrottet, Jean-Claude Perrottet and Jean Nassif.


The committee has also recommended that the influence of property developers and others in political, legal and democratic processes in the Hills Shire region be referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption for investigation. This is based on the evidence received from one individual in this inquiry, who gave a frank account of how some members of the Liberal Party sought a donation from him to unseat a sitting federal member.


Faced with the non-cooperation of key witnesses, this committee has taken some unusual, and in some cases unprecedented, procedural steps. The use of private process servers in the effort to serve a summons to key witnesses was one of these. While many attempts were made to serve key witnesses with a summons to attend and give evidence, albeit unsuccessfully, the committee considered it was an appropriate course of action, owing mainly to the clear lack of co-operation and difficulty experienced when liaising with witnesses. We thank the process servers for assisting the committee in what can only be described as extraordinary circumstances.


To address these difficulties better in the future, the committee has recommended that the Legislative Council refer an inquiry into the Parliamentary Evidence Act 1901 to the Privileges Committee, with a view to identifying amendments to ensure it is fit for purpose and modernised, including in relation to the summonsing of witnesses.


Finally, I would like to comment on the unauthorised disclosure of parts of the Chair's draft report. The disclosure was revealed on the day this report was tabled, literally hours before the expiration of the Legislative Assembly, which meant that the committee was unable to take the steps usually followed by committees to investigate and address such disclosures.


Unauthorised disclosure of committee information, such as a draft report, threatens the integrity of the  committee system by reducing trust amongst members, as well as between the Parliament and the public. Such disclosures also demonstrate disrespect for the secretariat who make every effort to protect the confidentiality of committee proceedings. I urge the person responsible for this breach of the standing orders to reflect on the seriousness of their actions.


On behalf of the committee I sincerely thank those witnesses who did come forward and give evidence

even reluctantly – to this inquiry. Each witness had something important to contribute, and has shed some light on the issues in question. I also thank my fellow committee members, and acknowledge that this has not been an easy inquiry by any measure, especially given all the pressures associated with the end of a parliamentary term. Finally, I thank the secretariat for their extraordinary hard work and professionalism, and all of the other parliamentary staff who have assisted to support the important work of this committee.


Ms Sue Higginson MLC

Committee Chair



Findings


Finding 1       21

That, based on evidence to the committee, a meeting took place at which Christian Ellis and Jean-Claude Perrottet asked a businessman to contribute $50,000 to an operation to unseat Alex Hawke, federal member for Mitchell.


Finding 2       21

That the finding of this committee about a request for $50,000, combined with the behaviour of witnesses called to this inquiry, add weight to the allegations by Government MP Ray Williams in the parliament that 'Jean Nassif of Toplace met with Christian Ellis and other senior members of the Liberal Party, who were paid significant funds in order to arrange to put new councillors on The Hills Shire Council who would be supportive of future Toplace development applications'.


Finding 3       22

That the following witnesses for whom summons were issued to assist the inquiry engaged in serious and deliberate attempts to evade service: Christian Ellis, Virginia Ellis and Jean-Claude Perrottet.


Finding 4       22

That the following witnesses for whom summons were issued to assist the inquiry engaged in serious and deliberate attempts to avoid giving evidence to the inquiry, noting they were out of the jurisdiction: Charles Perrottet and Jean Nassif.


Finding 5       22

That the following witnesses for whom summons were issued to assist the inquiry engaged in deliberate attempts to avoid giving evidence to the inquiry: Jeff Egan, Jeremy Greenwood and Dylan Whitelaw.


Finding 6       23

That a New South Wales parliamentary committee has never been faced with such serious, deliberate and co-ordinated attempts by witnesses to evade service of a summons.



Recommendations


Recommendation 1       20

That the Legislative Council establish a new inquiry into allegations of impropriety against agents of The Hills Shire Council and property developers in the region in the 58th Parliament, referring all evidence from this inquiry to the relevant committee.


Recommendation 2       21

That any future inquiry should call Christian Ellis and Jean-Claude Perrottet to give evidence on the matters referred to in Finding 1.


Recommendation 3       21

That any future inquiry should call Christian Ellis, Charles Perrottet and Jean Nassif to give evidence on the matters referred to in Finding 2.


Recommendation 4       21

That Portfolio Committee No. 7 – Planning and Environment refer the influence of property

developers and others in legal, political and democratic processes in The Hills Shire region to the Independent Commission Against Corruption, along with this report and committee transcripts of evidence.


Recommendation 5       23

That, at the beginning of the 58th Parliament, the NSW Legislative Council:

refer an inquiry into the Parliamentary Evidence Act 1901 to the Privileges Committee, with a view to identifying amendments to ensure it is fit for purpose and modernised, including in relation to the summonsing of witnesses; and

send a message to the NSW Legislative Assembly requesting that that House refer the same inquiry to its Standing Committee on Parliamentary Privilege and Ethics.


Recommendation 6       24

That Legislative Council committees consider the use of professional process servers to serve a summons on a witness in extraordinary circumstances where the witness has demonstrated that they are not co-operating with the committee, and that this matter be considered by any future inquiry by the Privileges Committee into the operation of the Parliamentary Evidence Act 1901 (as referred to in Recommendation 5).


Recommendation 7       24

That the NSW Legislative Council refer the matter of anonymously authored documents being tabled under parliamentary privilege to the Privileges Committee for inquiry and report.


Recommendation 8       24

That the Minister for Local Government undertake an investigation into The Hills Shire Council and consider what steps should be taken, including whether the Council should be put into administration. 


A little background.....


https://youtu.be/6DMSQLDMXvk



Friday 12 August 2022

NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption released its Report On Investigation Into Pork Barrelling In NSW

 

The former NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, was reported in 2020 as saying that pork barrelling was “not an illegal practice”. The former prime minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, was recently reported as saying, in relation to any federal integrity commission that may be established, that such a body should focus on identifying criminal behaviour rather than subjective questions such as whether spending in respect of marginal seats amounts to pork barrelling. Mr Morrison added, “No one is suggesting anyone has broken any laws, are they?”.

The discussion below answers such suggestions with a clear statement: pork barrelling can indeed amount to a breach of the law, including the criminal law, and in some circumstances, it can also constitute serious corrupt conduct under the ICAC Act.” [NSW ICAC Report On Investigation Into Pork Barrelling In NSW, August 2022]


NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), media release, 1 August 2022:


ICAC finds pork barrelling could be corrupt, recommends grant funding guidelines be subject to statutory regulation


The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has found that pork barrelling could constitute corrupt conduct in certain circumstances, while recommending that any whole–of–government guidelines concerning grants funding be issued pursuant to a statutory regulation.


The Commission released its Report on investigation into pork barrelling in NSW (Operation Jersey), today, in which it defines pork barrelling as “the allocation of public funds and resources to targeted electors for partisan political purposes”. In the report, the Commission finds that while individual matters should always be assessed on a case-by-case basis, a minister, for example, may engage in corrupt conduct involving pork barrelling, within the meaning of section 8 of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988, if the minister:


  • influences a public servant to exercise decision-making powers vested in the public servant, or to fulfil an official function, such as providing an assessment of the merits of grants, in a dishonest or partial way


  • applies downward pressure to influence a public servant to exercise decision-making powers vested in the public servant, or to fulfil an official function, such as providing an assessment of the merits of grants, in a manner which knowingly involves the public servant in a breach of public trust


  • conducts a merit-based grants scheme in such a way as to dishonestly favour political and private advantage over merit, undermining public confidence in public administration, and benefiting political donors and/or family members


  • deliberately exercises a power to approve grants in a manner that favours family members, party donors or party interests in electorates, contrary to the guidelines of a grant program which state that the grants are to be made on merit according to criteria


  • exercises a power to make grants in favour of marginal electorates, when this is contrary to the purpose for which the power was given.


The report notes that those who exercise public or official powers in a manner inconsistent with the public purpose for which the powers were conferred betray public trust and so misconduct themselves. The Commission also finds that pork barrelling could satisfy section 9 of the ICAC Act. It may do so, for example, by conduct amounting to a substantial breach of the Ministerial Code of Conduct, or the Members’ Code of Conduct, or conduct constituting or involving the common law offence of misconduct in public office.


The Commission notes that in issuing this report, it intends to make it clear that ministers and their advisers “do not have an unfettered discretion to distribute public funds. The exercise of ministerial discretion is subject to the rule of law, which ensures that it must accord with public trust and accountability principles.”


Altogether, the Commission makes 21 recommendations to help prevent or better regulate pork barrelling. These also include that:


  • the Government Sector Finance Act 2018 be amended to mirror section 71 of the Commonwealth Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 by including obligations that a minister must not approve expenditure of money unless satisfied that the expenditure would be an efficient, effective, economical and ethical use of the money and that the expenditure represents value for money


  • the grant funding framework, or equivalent requirements, apply to the local government sector. This should include situations where local councils are both grantees and grantors


  • clause 6 of the Ministerial Code of Conduct be amended to read, “A Minister, in the exercise or performance of their official functions, must not act dishonestly, must act in the public interest, and must not act improperly for their private benefit or for the private benefit of any other person”.


The Commission’s report follows an investigation it commenced in May 2020 into the NSW Government’s Stronger Community’s Fund. Following an inquiry by the NSW Legislative Council’s Public Accountability Committee, a performance audit by the NSW Auditor-General, an assessment by the State Archives and Records Authority and a review into grants administration in NSW (led by the Department of Premier and Cabinet in partnership with the NSW Productivity Commissioner), the Commission revised its investigation scope. It determined that it was in the public interest to examine and report on the circumstances where, it had concluded, pork barrelling could involve serious breaches of public trust and conduct that could amount to corrupt conduct.


To assist its investigation, the Commission engaged a number of experts to prepare papers and participate in a public forum held on 3 June 2022. The report represents the view of the Commission but draws on the analysis of these experts. The report is available on the Commission’s website.


Download full report

_____ENDS_____


In which it is revealed just how much wiggle room there is left to the Perrottet Government that would allow it to proceed with business-as-usual pork barrelling if it continues to support Recommendation 2 in the April 2022 Review of grants administration in NSW: Final Report. As well as its lukewarm "in principal" support for the creation of law to hold members of parliament accountable.....


Excerpts from NSW ICAC Report On Investigation Into Pork Barrelling In NSW, August 2022 which include parts of the transcript of the NSW ICAC Forum on Pork Barrelling held 3 June 2022:


At Page 6:

Also in 2020, the NSW Auditor-General announced a performance audit of the SCF, and the Public Accountability Committee (PAC) of the NSW Legislative Council established an inquiry into NSW grant programs (including the SCF). The reports issued by the Auditor-General (in February 2022) and the PAC (in March 2021 and February 2022) made numerous observations about the management of the SCF, including adverse findings. The State Archives and Records Authority (SARA) also released a report in January 2021, dealing with recordkeeping aspects of the SCF.


In November 2021, Premier the Hon Dominic Perrottet MP announced a review of grants administration in NSW. Given the existing findings and review processes concerning the SCF, the Commission decided that it was not in the public interest to continue investigative action that could have led to adverse findings against any individual. Consequently, the scope of the Commission’s investigation was revised to focus on the practice of pork barrelling more broadly and, in particular, whether it could allow, encourage or cause corrupt conduct (chapter 1).


At Page 78:

Now, in November 2021 the new Premier Dominic Perrottet stated that Taxpayers expect the distribution of public funds will be fair and I share that expectation,” he said. He ordered a review of how grants should be administered and this was a very good sign that something might actually be done to prevent the recurrence of such abuses in the spending of public money. Now, that report was published quite recently in April. Some of its recommendations are very good, such as the creation of a new guide on grants management to better ensure documentation and critically transparency.


So that’s the first step that needs to be taken. In my view I don’t think it goes far enough. First, the obligations on ministers and their staff in relation to grants need to be imposed by law, not just in a premier’s memorandum and was proposed in that report. And this is because other accountability provisions in codes of conduct and statutes such as the ICAC Act turn on whether there has been breach of a law, not a premier’s memorandum, a law. So for example if a minister has behaved in a partial manner and his or her behaviour would cause a reasonable person to believe that it would bring the integrity of the office or parliament itself into serious disrepute, a finding of corrupt conduct can be made by ICAC if the minister’s acts also constitute breach of a law, not a premier’s memorandum, a law. [my yellow highlighting]


Similarly, clause 5 of the Ministerial Code of Conduct requires a minister not to direct or request a public service agency to act contrary to a law. Burying grants rules in a memorandum rather than in a law avoids consequences for ministers if they breach those rules or if they instruct others to do so. Another problem is the failure to address the issue of grants being made for the advantage of a political party including when they are election promises. Now, at the Commonwealth level the use of ad hoc noncompetitive grants to give effect to election promises has resulted in rules about merit and proper assessments being tossed out the window.


Any new state grant rules should explicitly provide that grants must only be allocated in the public interest and not predominantly for party political purposes. New grants rules should also contain express provisions to prevent avoidance and to ensure that election promises must still be subject to proper scrutiny and merit assessment.


At Page 128:

The second thing is that I think that we’ve got to recognise that at a Commonwealth level those statutory or the rules that have the force of law, you know, are crucial. I think we should remember that in the sports rorts affair, the main recommendation of the Australian National Audit Office there in relation to that was to bring those grants within those guidelines, and ministerial decision-making about grants within those guidelines. It was recommendation 4 and the government accepted it on the spot. So it’s a bit like saying, yep, actually we’re a bit scared now but we’re going to accept that recommendation. So actually to say that nothing was done is not accurate because, in fact, the system was pushed in the right direction. But I think the key problem is those mechanisms for transparency around when ministers decide to deviate from their official advice, making those mechanisms real so that there’s a real deterrent to poor or partisan decision making. Because we have the problem of corruption in plain sight. There’s plenty of people, I suspect that John Barilaro might have been one of them, who would say, “Yeah, we’ll just do it openly. We’ll just say, yeah, these are the reasons,” and, you know, and dare anybody to tell us that this is not in the public interest. So we’ve actually got, that’s got to work in a way that actually can be a realistic disincentive to make poor decisions while not stopping the ability to make good decisions. That’s quite a complex thing to get right at the end of the day in politics, I think.


The third thing is that the – and I would absolutely agree with what Joe just said, I think that goes to the problems maybe in the report and the problems with the codes of conduct at the moment, is this focus on public versus private. They have to more actively and explicitly deal with what we’re talking about here, that it’s not a contest between public duty and private personal gain, that it’s something more complicated than that and that the guidance on that in codes of conduct that are then properly enforced is as crucial as anything else, because it’s one of the few ways that we’ve got to actually support good decision-making culture amongst politicians and actually influence their understanding of what they’re doing. Otherwise it just turns into Whac-A-Mole, you know, what they’re currently getting away with over here they will just try and get away with over there because they believe that they’re doing the right thing. We’ve got to create a framework where it’s more clearly understood why this is not the right thing. So that’s number three. Number four is, I would go back to the electoral bribery offence and actually recast the electoral bribery offences to make it clear that pork barrelling can be electoral bribery, which is currently not, it’s currently written in the other direction so that it’s actually a clear warning in criminal law where it needs to be. You don’t need to be an expert in public trust and misconduct in public office to say giving people money to influence how they vote, or how that immediate community votes, is actually problematic in criminal law directly.


At Page 173:

Allegations of pork-barrelling have also occurred at the State level. In recent times, they have been directed at sports grants, arts grants and bushfire relief funds, amongst other funding programs.

In November 2020, the then Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, admitted that the payment of grants to local councils from the Stronger Communities Fund in the period prior to the previous election amounted to pork-barrelling, but claimed it was ‘not an illegal practice’. The Premier also later justified ‘throwing money at seats to keep them’, arguing that this was part of ‘democracy’. In response to questions about why grants were made contrary to the advice of public servants she observed that Departments were not expert at ‘winning byelections’.

It seems, however, politicians are not expert at it either and that pork-barrelling is not terribly effective, despite the strong, but misguided, belief of politicians that they can use public money to buy electoral success.


Wednesday 6 July 2022

The Berejiklian-Maguire saga continues behind closed doors at NSW ICAC inquiry


Reading between the lines it seems Premier Dominic Perrottet is hoping to have a final NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption determination in the Operation Keppel Public Inquiry by October 2022, concerning former premier & former Liberal MP for Willoughby Gladys Berejiklian, so that he can create some clear air before the March 2023 state election.


Perhaps optimistically believing that state voters will forget that the stench of Liberal corruption is not just attached to the federal parliamentary branch of this political party.


The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 July 2022:


The anti-corruption commissioner overseeing the inquiry into former premier Gladys Berejiklian’s conduct has had her term renewed for another six months in the latest extension to the high-profile probe.


Former Court of Appeal judge Ruth McColl, SC, will continue as a temporary commissioner in the investigation known as Operation Keppel until the end of October, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has confirmed.




Gladys Berejiklian was grilled before the NSW ICAC for two days last year. CREDIT:ICAC


Read the full article here.

 

Sunday 24 October 2021

A brief summary of part of Day 4 of NSW ICAC Operation Keppel's 2021 public hearings

 

The role of the Cabinet Standing Committee on Expenditure (Expenditure Review Committee or ERC) is to assist Cabinet and the Treasurer in:


  • framing the fiscal strategy and the Budget for Cabinet's consideration

  • driving expenditure controls within agencies and monitoring financial performance

  • considering proposals with financial implications brought forward by Ministers.


ERC is the only committee of Cabinet that can recommend any new spending or revenue proposals to Cabinet.


All spending, revenue or tax expenditure proposals by Ministers must be considered by ERC prior to final Cabinet approval unless otherwise agreed by the Premier, Deputy Premier and Treasurer…..


The Treasurer is the Chair of the ERC. The Treasurer determines the order of proceedings, and summarises the decisions made for recording by the note takers. The Secretary, Department of Premier and Cabinet, is the Secretary to the Committee. The Department of Premier and Cabinet and Treasury will provide note takers for meetings." [https://arp.nsw.gov.au/c2014-04-cabinet-standing-committee-expenditure-review-procedures-and-operational-rules-2014/]  [my yellow highlighting]


From 02 Apr 2015 to 23 Jan 2017 Liberal MP for Willoughby Gladys Berejiklian as NSW Treasurer was chair of the Estimates Review Committee of Cabinet (ERC) and from 23 Jan 2017 to 05 Oct 2021 she was Premier of New South Wales.


Ongoing evidence at Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) 2021 Operation Keppel public hearings to date confirms that the Estimates Review Committee revealed on 4 December 2016 that it had approved $5.5 million expenditure in 2016/2017 to the Office of Sports with funding sourced from the Retart NSW Fund program, Regional Growth – Environment and Tourism Fund.


The Restart NSW Fund - itself financed by way of the sale of government infrastructure or privatisation of its assets - being the responsibility of the NSW Treasurer.


At that point NSW Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian had been chair of the ERC for approximately 20 months and based on previous evidence given by the then Liberal MLA for Wagga Wagga had been in a close personal friendship with him which began sometime between 2013-2015.


However, the bureaucratic path taken in assessment of the Australian Clay Target Association’s expanded proposal for an upgrade in sporting facilities as well as a new club & conference centre appears rather circuitous.


Apparently continuing a level of public service confusion which had marked the progression of this on-off funding request since 2012.


Indeed, by 2 January 2017 the then MLA for Wagga Wagga sent out a media release announcing the gun club funding grant before the bureaucrats had signed off on the still problematic business case.


When by midmorning of 23 January 2017 Ms. Berejiklian swopped horses, becoming NSW Premier on the retirement of Liberal MLA for Manly, Mike Baird, the Liberal Member for Epping Dominic Perrottet became NSW Treasurer and therefore the new chair of the Expenditure Review Committee (ERC).


The ACTA unresolved and unsatisfactory business case was still stumbling along on 2 April 2017 when it appears that no matter how one looked at the cost-benefit analysis of the proposal, any projected economic benefit being returned to that regional city, the Liberal-held electorate or the state as a whole, was likely to be less than the $5.5 million cost of upgrading & expanding that Wagga Wagga gun club.


By that April it had been about 4 years and 4 months since the then Liberal Member for Wagga Wagga had first written to then NSW Premier and Liberal Member for Ku-ring-gai, Barry O’Farrell, raising the subject of funding the gun club upgrade of it sporting facilities.


An ordinary person might be forgiven for thinking that by this time ACTA would have been losing support in Macquarie Street for the Olympic-level gun club and associated facilities it planned for Wagga Wagga.


However, evidence given at Operation Keppel public hearings suggest that staff members of Deputy-Premier and Liberal MLA for Monaro, John Barilario, were letting it be known that he supported the ACTA gun club proposal. Barilaro was also a member of the Executive Review Committee of Cabinet when first Berejiklian and then Perrottet chaired this committee as NSW Treasurer.


Mr. Barilaro’s staff allegedly telling at least one public servant assessing/ progressing the $5.5 million grant proposal that the gun club project was of special interest to Premier Berejiklian.


In June 2017 Regional NSW, Department of Premier and Cabinet appears to have sent the grant proposal to the Department’s Investment Appraisal Unit allegedly following a request by the Premier – there being a belief that the Premier’s Office & the Premier wanted the ACTA business case for a large clubhouse, conference facility and associated infrastructure revisited.


Across three successive NSW Coalition Governments it seem premiers and cabinet ministers have been prepared to spend an inordinate amount of public service time and money on progressing the desires of then Liberal MLA for Wagga Wagga.



To be continued......


Wednesday 20 October 2021

A brief overview of part of Day Two of 2021 NSW ICAC Operation Keppel investigation public hearings


 

Apparently the Liberal MP for Wagga Wagga Daryl Maguire first approached the NSW Minister for Sport Graham Annesley in September 2012 requesting the minister meet with the Executive Officer of the Australian Clay Target Association (ACTA), concerning the possibility of a government grant to upgrade the facilities of an existing regional gun club in his electorate.


At that time Liberal MP for Willoughby Gladys Berejiklian was Minisrer for Transport and it is understood from evidence given to ICAC in 2020 that the admitted close personal friendship of Maguire and Berejiklian began sometime between 2013 and 2015.


The outcome of that particular meeting was a ministerial request that funding be sought from within the then Liberal MP for Manly & NSW Treasurer Mike Bairds portfolio. However as a low-priority project it was rejected for funding the 2013/14 state budget.


Sometime in January 2016 the Member for Wagga Wagga appears to have again written to Minister for Sport (now the Liberal MP for Penrith Stuart Ayers) advising that the Australian Clay Target Association’s original somewhat sketchy proposal had been tightened and reworked from an upgrade of the shooting range to the building of a suitable new clubhouse.


At that time Maguire informed the Minister for Sport that he had also approached the Treasurer. By this time Gladys Berejiklian had been NSW Treasurer since 2 April 2015.


It was also after January 2016 that the funding request had morphed into a plan to for ISSF level facilities as well as a new clubhouse and office complex.


It seems ACTA had $1.2 million set aside for this project and was requesting an additional $4.9 million in funding from the Baird Coalition Government.


Presumably for the Wagga Wagga club to compete for hosting rights to a World Cup event for trap shooting - even though there was already a large Olympic standard facility in Sydney.


By 20 June 2016. despite still being assessed as a low-priority project, the Minister for Sports, now the Liberal Member for Penrith, Stuart Ayers, apparently suggested a $40,000 grant for ACTA to develop a business case for the club.


BACKGROUND

19-10-2021 transcript18719/10/211989-20111.45pm to 2.48pm
19-10-2021 transcript29219/10/211936-198810.00am to 12.44pm
18-10-2021 transcript26018/10/211892-19352.00pm to 3.57pm
18-10-2021 transcript27118/10/211844-189110.00am to 1.09pm


 

Sunday 17 October 2021

Tomorrow, 18 October 2021 at 10am Operation Keppel public hearings begin into the conduct of former Premier & not yet retired Member for Willoughby, Gladys Berejiklian


Gladys Berejiklian
IMAGE: news.com.au

 

NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), media release, 1 October 2021:


The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) will hold a further public inquiry in Operation Keppel from 10:00 am on Monday 18 October 2021.


The Commission is investigating whether, between 2012 and 2018, the Hon Gladys Berejiklian MP engaged in conduct that:

  • constituted or involved a breach of public trust by exercising public functions in circumstances where she was in a position of conflict between her public duties and her private interest as a person who was in a personal relationship with the then NSW Member of Parliament, Mr Daryl Maguire, in connection with: grant funding promised and/or awarded to the Australian Clay Target Association Inc in 2016/2017; and grant funding promised and/or awarded to the Riverina Conservatorium of Music in Wagga Wagga in 2018; and/or
  • constituted or involved the partial exercise of any of her official functions, in connection with: grant funding promised and/or awarded to the Australian Clay Target Association Inc in 2016/2017; grant funding promised and/or awarded to the Riverina Conservatorium of Music in Wagga Wagga in 2018; and/or
  • constituted or involved the dishonest or partial exercise of any of her official functions and/or a breach of public trust by refusing to exercise her duty pursuant to section 11 of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 to report any matter that she suspected on reasonable grounds concerned or may concern corrupt conduct in relation to the conduct of Mr Daryl Maguire; and/or
  • was liable to allow or encourage the occurrence of corrupt conduct by Mr Maguire.


The Commission is also investigating whether, between 2012 and August 2018, Mr Maguire engaged in conduct that involved a breach of public trust by using his public office, involving his duties as a member of the NSW Parliament, and the use of parliamentary resources, to improperly gain a benefit for himself, G8wayInternational/G8wayInternational Pty Ltd and associated persons.


The general scope and purpose of the public inquiry is to gather evidence relevant to the matters being investigated for the purpose of determining the matters referred to in section 13(2) of the ICAC Act.


The Commission has decided that public inquiries will be conducted, as far as practicable, remotely via audio visual link (AVL) until there is a change in the current COVID-19 public health orders. Only those whose presence on Commission premises is deemed essential for the effective conduct of the public inquiry will be permitted on-site. Members of the public and the media will therefore not be permitted to attend the premises for the course of the Operation Keppel public inquiry. There is further information in the public inquiry protocol on the Commission’s website.


MS Teams is the AVL technology that the Commission will use to conduct the public inquiry remotely. The Commission will live stream the MS Teams proceedings via its website, www.icac.nsw.gov.au. The Commission will also upload exhibits (provided they are not subject to non-publication orders), transcripts and witness lists to the website. Updates will be provided throughout the course of the inquiry via the ICAC Twitter account (@nswicac).


Assistant Commissioner the Hon Ruth McColl AO SC will preside at the public inquiry. Counsel Assisting the Commission will be Mr Scott Robertson and Mr Alex Brown.


It is expected that the inquiry will continue for approximately 10 days. A witness list for the first week of the public inquiry will be published closer to the commencement date of the proceedings, along with further information about how to access the live stream. The Commission will also advise if there are changes to the public health orders that may affect the conduct of the inquiry.


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OPERATION KEPPEL PUBLIC INQUIRY COMMENCING 18 OCTOBER 2021: WITNESS LIST as of 14 October 2021:


Monday 18 October

Michael Toohey (Current Director, Office of Sport, Greater Sydney Area, NSW)


Tuesday 19 October

Paul Doorn (Current CEO NSW Rugby Union & NSW Waratahs)


Wednesday 20 October

Nigel Blunden (Current Head of Government Affairs – HammondCare & Scott Morrison’s ‘captain's pick' in July 21 to help promote the national vaccination program rollout]

Mike Baird (Current CEO HammondCare & former NSW Liberal Premier from 17 Apr 2014 to 23 Jan 2017)


Thursday 21 October

Chris Hanger (Deputy Secretary, Public Works Advisory and Regional Development Group in the Department of Regional NSW)


Friday 22 October

Stuart Ayres (Current Liberal Member for Penrith, Deputy Leader of the NSW Parliamentary Liberal Party, Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney & Minister for Industry and Trade - previously NSW Minister for Sport 2017-2019 & Minister for Police & Emergency Services 2017-2019). Member of the NSW Government COVID-19 crisis committee)

Gary Barnes (Secretary for the Department of Regional NSW)


Records of ICAC Operation Keppel proceeding commenced in 2020


Former NSW MP for Wagga Wagga – allegations concerning breach of public trust to improperly gain a benefit (Operation Keppel) at https://www.icac.nsw.gov.au/investigations/current-investigations/2020/former-nsw-mp-for-wagga-wagga-operation-keppel/former-nsw-mp-for-wagga-wagga-allegations-concerning-breach-of-public-trust-to-improperly-gain-a-benefit-operation-keppel