Showing posts with label NSW politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NSW politics. Show all posts

Friday 18 November 2022

Has Kyogle Council in Northern NSW become a creature of the timber industry?


In 2018 the NSW Dept. of Primary Industries produced a report that examined the NSW planning and regulatory instruments that interact with private native forestry (PNF) using the entire NSW north coast region as a case study -  from Gosford local government area to the NSW-Qld border - to which was added Tenterfield, Glen Innes Severn, Guyra, Armidale Dumaresq, Uralla, Walcha and Tamworth LGAs for good measure.


The report found planning constraints and exclusions applied to 734,992 ha, which equated to 25.6% of the total area of private native forest on the NSW north coast. In effect, these areas are acting as large-scale informal conservation reservesWith a total of 689,300 ha of that land requiring dual consent from the NSW Environment Protection Agency (EPA) and local councils before private forestry agreements could be applied to this land.


The report noted that: Private native forestry is prohibited by council LEPs on a further 6.5%3 (174,560 ha) of private native forest land. The balance of the private native forest estate (68.5%) has zoning that permits forestry without council consent.


It also found that: The Private Native Forestry Code of Practice for Northern NSW prohibits forest operations within any area identified as core koala habitat within the meaning of State Environment Planning Policy (SEPP) 44—Koala Habitat Protection (SEPP 44). Koalas are known to be present in low densities across all of the North coast’s 34 council areas. It identified SEPP 44 as an impediment with the potential to significantly reduce the availability of private timber resources.


The Berejiklian and Perrottet Coalition Governments, along with the NSW National Party and timber industry lobbyists, appear to have spent the years since 2018 attempting to dismantle protections on any and all land in private hands which has what is considered harvestable native timber stands. In this aim the state government has frequently been successful.


In 2022 they had an unexpected measure of success in the Kyogle local government area, which covers 3,589 square km and has a resident population of est. 9,359 people [ABS Census 2021].


Kyogle Koalas IMAGE: “KOALA COUNTRY” leaflet, September 2017



ABC News, 15 November 2022:


On the day the NSW government was forced into an embarrassing backdown over proposed changes to private native forestry approvals, a council on the state's north coast has voted to give up the powers at the centre of the controversy.


Kyogle Council voted to scrap the dual approval process for native forestry on private land, leaving approvals entirely in the hands of Local Land Services (LLS).


"We've got a history in Kyogle of a strong timber industry, and the fact that it is still functioning today is a testament to generations past and present and how well they're managing their land," Mayor Kylie Thomas said.


"Why would we get in the way of that?"…...


The meeting heard there were 133 private native forestry (PNF) plans in place across the Kyogle Shire which have been approved by the LLS but have not been put forward to the council.


A staff report said the council would struggle to approve any PNF plans, because it could not approve proposals that would have an adverse effect on the environment.


It argued that scrapping the dual-approval process would help address the regulatory stalemate.


The council's vote came on the same day the state government announced it would not proceed with contentious private native forestry legislation.


Under the current law, landholders need approval from both their local council and a state authority (LLS).


The bill would have removed the requirement to go to council, but it was abandoned after concerns were raised about its impact on koala habitat.


The Nationals member for Tweed, Geoff Provest, threatened to cross the floor on the issue.


"In my whole political life, I've never crossed the floor, so to speak, or voted against a government policy," he said.


"In this case I have a strong belief and I think I've got the support of my wider community that this is not good legislation."…….


Read the full article here


BACKGROUND




In its 14 November 2022 ordinary monthly meeting business paper Kyogle Council asserted that the local government area has the third highest amount of private native forest on the North Coast of NSW with approximately 160,000 hectares. It further stated that: As of 2022, Council records indicate that there are 146 current approved PNF plans in the Kyogle local government area covering 382 parcels of land. Local Land Services advises that over half of all forest under freehold title is subject to an approved PNF. A further 84 PNF plans covering 279 parcels of land have historically been approved, however, it is likely these approvals have expired.

Council officers have discussed the above issue with the Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) with a view to finding a solution which ensures that duplication in regulatory processes is removed while ensuring that state and local government interests are protected.

DPE and Council officers agree that the best way forward is to amend the Kyogle LEP to make PNF permitted without consent on land zoned RU1 – Primary Production. This would enable any land owner who obtains an approved PNF Plan from LLS after the proposed amendment to the LEP takes effect, to proceed with PNF without obtaining development consent from Council. The cost to Council of implementing the withdrawal from the dual consent process is optimistically set by staff at $25,000.


IndyNR.com, 1 September 2022:


Logging at a property near the Border Ranges National Park was first noticed by a Kyogle Environment Group member on their way to the park.


Kyogle Council general manager Graham Kennett said the council received a complaint about the logging of native forest at a site along Forest Rd on July 25.


Council officers inspected the site that day and immediately reported the matter to the Environmental Protection Authority and Local Land Services, who are the two state government agencies responsible for the regulation and approval of private native forests,” Mr Kennett said.


Council also issued an emergency stop works order the following day.”


The property on Forest Rd is a short drive from the national park and 30km north of Kyogle.


The Kyogle Environment Group contacted Minister for Environment and Heritage James Griffin, Minister for Agriculture Dugald Saunders, State MP Janelle Saffin and MLC Sue Higginson as well as the EPA.


KEG secretary Sue Page received a letter about the logging from the EPA’s Carmen Dwyer.


The letter said the EPA had conducted two inspections at the property and identified alleged non-compliance issues.


These matters are now subject to a formal investigation,” Ms Dwyer said.


Logging laws require landholders and contractors to comply with the Private Native Forestry Code of Practice.


The EPA is currently investigating compliance issues at the property. Forestry operations have been suspended at the site following separate regulatory action instituted by Kyogle Council,” an EPA spokesperson said.


Neither council nor the EPA could give further details until the investigation is complete……. 


Sunday 25 September 2022

State of Play: New South Wales general election March 2023


The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 September 2022, excerpt:




The result, if replicated on March 25, would put Labor in majority government. The ALP needs to win at least eight seats to secure that majority.

Voters have also made it clear that the election will be fought on the rising cost of living, with 30 per cent identifying it as the No.1 issue of concern, while 10 per cent of voters singled out health and aged care, followed by the environment and climate change as well as economic management.

Despite the support for Labor, voters are not warming to either leader, with Premier Dominic Perrottet and Opposition Leader Chris Minns equal on the preferred premier rating.

Both are on 28 per cent (a slight drop for Minns from 32 per cent in February when he overtook Perrottet as preferred premier) but crucially, 44 per cent of voters are undecided…..


Read full article here.


Tuesday 5 October 2021

Three days after Liberal MLA Gladys Berejiklian announced she was resigning as NSW Premier and quitting state parliament so bringing on a by-election in Willoughby, Nationals MLA John Barilaro suddenly announced he was resigning as NSW Deputy Premier and quitting state parliament thus bring on a by-election in Monaro


 


Rumours are swirling around both resignations, with some recalling past and present corruption allegations and others hinting that Barilaro is considering standing at the forthcoming federal general election. 


The new lineup for NSW Premier, Deputy Leader and Treasurer being favoured by mainstream media punters is that hard right culture warrior, Opus Dei member, current Treasurer & Deputy Leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party, Liberal MLA for Epping Dominic Francis Perrottet, will become Premier;  while current Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney & MLA for Penrith Stuart Ayres will be made Deputy Leader; and current Minister for Energy and Environment and Liberal MLA for Hornsby Matthew Kean will be installed as the new Treasurer.


The Liberal Party Room is expected to vote on these three positions today. 


Literally days away from the problematic first stage of the NSW Government's 'roadmap' to 'living with covid' and an abrupt change of Coalition leadership occurs - what could possibly go wrong?


Saturday 11 September 2021

Tweet of the Week


 



Lede of the Week

"NSW Police have slapped former Prime Minister Tony Abbott with a $500 fine after he was photographed maskless in Manly on Wednesday.

The infringement notice was issued after he was snapped chatting with a friend at the beach by a concerned bystander who promptly took photographs and reported him to police." [news.com.au, 10 September 2021]


Saturday 15 May 2021

Tweet of the Week

 

 

Tuesday 15 October 2019

"The right to peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy and must not be thrown away for political expediency."


The Daily Examiner, letter to the editor, 9 October 2019, p.13:


Amend or reject
PEOPLE will face more time in jail for peaceful protest than for grievous bodily harm if the government’s Right to Farm Bill becomes law.
The bill provides for three-year prison terms for protesters while the penalty for permanently or seriously disfiguring another person is a maximum of two years. Is this really the sort of society the Coalition government wants us to become?
Under this proposal people as diverse as Wallaby great David Pocock and the knitting nannas could go to jail for making their point peacefully and democratically.
The government claims these dangerous laws are needed to protect farmers from trespassers, but the law already has those safeguards. The irony is that farmers may have the most to lose.
Farmers have led campaigns to save the Pilliga and the Bentley region from coal seam gas and the Hunter, Bylong Valley, Gloucester Valley and the Liverpool Plains from coal.
The right to peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy and must not be thrown away for political expediency.
History tells us that when governments erode the civil liberties of any group, they erode them for us all. This bill must be amended or rejected.
Chris Gambian, Chief Executive, NSW Nature Conservation Council
BACKGROUND
Parliament of New South Wales, Legislative Review Committee, Review Digest, 24 September 2019:
"The Bill significantly increases the maximum penalty for the offence of aggravated unlawful entry on inclosed lands from $5,500 to $13,200 and/or imprisonment for 12 months. The potential penalties rise to $22,000 or three years imprisonment if the offender is accompanied by two or more persons or if s/he does anything to put the safety of any person at serious risk. Large increases in penalties can result in excessive punishment where the penalty is not proportionate to the offence. However, the Committee acknowledges that the penalty increase is designed to better reflect the severity of the offences as well as the impact such offences have on farmers and primary production activities. It is also to account for the risks caused by trespassing on agricultural land and interfering with agricultural equipment and infrastructure.....
The Bill introduces a new offence that applies to those who incite or direct trespass without committing trespass themselves, which could attract a maximum penalty of 12 months imprisonment. The Committee notes that the creation of new offences impacts upon the rights and liberties of persons as previously lawful conduct becomes unlawful. " 

Wednesday 25 January 2017

Bottom line - Mike Baird resigned before he could be pushed


This is Mike Baird’s announcement of his immediate resignation as NSW Premier and intended resignation as the Member for Manly.


Ex-investment banker Mike Baird entered the NSW Parliament on 24 March 2007 as a Liberal Party member of the Opposition.

Once the Coalition won government he first became Treasurer (2011), then Minister for Industrial Relations (2012), until becoming Premier, Minister for Infrastructure and Minister for Western Sydney in 2014 then jettisoning Infrastructure from his portfolio list in 2015.

He spent less than three years as premier and in that time his popularity with voters has markedly declined on the back of a sustained push to privatise government assets, the implementation of bad planning legislation which restricted a community’s ability to resist inappropriate development, poor funding decisions which impacted on women fleeing domestic violence and unpopular policy choices such as restricting opening hours for bars and clubs but not casinos, the controversial attempt to ban greyhound racing, forced local government amalgamations and the botched $16.8 billion WestConnex plan along with its compulsory acquisitions  – to name just a few.

The fact that he had to be dragged kicking and screaming towards a decision to curb the growth of coal seam gas exploration and mining was also a mark against his name in many rural and regional areas, while scandals reduced confidence in the state-run public hospital system on his watch.

So it is no surprise that Baird decided to jump when an opportunity presented itself rather than be pushed unceremoniously from the premier's chair.

The fault lines in the NSW Coalition were already beginning to publicly surface when a number of National MPS put a motion to conference for a gasfield-free Northern Rivers in 2015, crossed the floor rather than support the abolition of greyhound racing in 2016 and were joined in disunity by certain Liberal backbenchers who began to mutter against excessive land clearing laws and hospital funding that same year - now in 2017 we see the Nationals pushing against further council amalgamations.

ABC News, 20 January 2017:

New South Wales premier-in-waiting Gladys Berejiklian is likely to be the state's next premier, but she is already facing pressure from the Deputy Premier to scrap council mergers in regional areas.
Ms Berejiklian is the only person to put her hand up for the top job, after Transport Minster Andrew Constance bowed out of the race today and offered her his full support.
Deputy Premier John Barilaro has used Premier Mike Baird's resignation yesterday as an opportunity to wipe the slate clean for the coalition.
This includes a demand to end forced council amalgamations in regional NSW.
The Nationals leader, who took over from Troy Grant in November after the party lost the previously safe seat of Orange, said they would no longer be taken for granted.
"We will no longer be forcing local government mergers and that will be the first course of business," Mr Barilaro said.
"I want to make it absolutely clear to the incoming leader of the NSW Liberals and that is that the NSW Nationals no longer will be taken for granted.
"Today I draw the line in the sand that the NSW Nationals won't just accept the crumbs from the Liberal party table."

Last year there was speculation that Baird would retire in 2018 ahead of the March 2019 state election.

It’s highly doubtful that he would have made it to that March general election without a leadership challenge and it looks suspiciously like he finally recognised the no-win position he finds himself in with the electorate.

There is nothing left but for him to do but collect his lucrative parliamentary pension and perks then move on to a second go at a private sector corporate career. 

Tuesday 18 October 2016

NSW ICAC Operation Cavill: former NSW Liberal MP for Gladesville & former Ryde Mayor committal hearing on charges of blackmail and misconduct in public office


The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 October 2016:

A former Liberal state MP and Sydney mayor will face court on Monday to determine if he should be committed to stand trial for blackmail and misconduct in public office.
Ivan Petch was Ryde mayor when, in 2012, a controversial redevelopment of the Ryde Civic Centre triggered a series of flash points that later became the subject of a two-week hearing by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).
Mr Petch now faces a range of charges arising from the inquiry, including two counts of blackmail, misconduct in public office and giving false or misleading evidence to ICAC.
Mr Petch lashed out at the corruption watchdog last week for having "discoloured" his "whole career in one fell swoop".
"I have spent 37 years serving the people and, in that time, I have always acted in the interests of the community," he said. "I have stood by them all the way through."
After losing his state seat of Gladesville in the 1995 election to Labor's John Watkins by the narrow margin of 250 votes, Mr Petch became an independent councillor who went on to serve six terms as Ryde mayor.
However, in 2013, ICAC investigated Mr Petch over the alleged release of confidential council information "on many occasions for various reasons" but most notably to "undermine" council employees such as the former general manager John Neish.
During the inquiry, a phone tap was played of Mr Petch threatening to "destroy" Mr Neish. It emerged that, a short time later, sensitive material was leaked in a bid to discredit the council's head, after he refused to delay a high-rise residential redevelopment plan for council's ageing civic centre.
Mr Petch, who is charged with one count of misconduct in public office for allegedly releasing that material, has also been charged with "being an accessory before the fact of a count of blackmail" in relation to the alleged threat, for which property developer John Goubran is also facing a blackmail charge.
Mr Petch is also facing a separate charge of blackmail for allegedly attempting to improperly influence Mr Neish's acting replacement Danielle Dickson after her predecessor quit.
The then mayor allegedly threatened Ms Dickson that councillors, including himself, would block her application for the permanent position if she failed to resolve an ongoing Supreme Court costs dispute in their favour.
Mr Petch's three-day committal hearing will be heard in Sydney Local Court by Deputy Chief Magistrate Jane Mottley.

BACKGROUND

NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC):


The ICAC investigated a number of allegations involving the former Mayor of the City of Ryde, Ivan Petch, and others, including the alleged release of confidential council information by Mr Petch on many occasions for various reasons, including in an attempt to undermine council employees, such as the former General Manager, Mr John Neish.
In its report on the investigation, made public on 30 June 2014, the Commission makes corrupt conduct findings against Mr Petch, John Goubran and Richard Henricus. The Commission is of the opinion that consideration should be given to obtaining the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) with respect to the prosecution of Mr Petch, Mr Goubran, Anthony Stavrinos, John Booth and Mr Henricus for various offences.
The ICAC is of the opinion that consideration should be given to obtaining the advice of the DPP also with respect to the prosecution of Mr Petch, councillors Justin Li, Jeffrey Salvestro-Martin, Terry Perram and former councillor Victor Tagg for offences under the Election Funding, Expenditure and Disclosures Act 1981 in relation to advertising published in The Weekly Times in August and September 2012. The Commission also recommends that the Office of Local Government gives consideration to disciplinary action against Mr Petch, with a view to his dismissal…..

Recommendations for prosecutions…..
The ICAC is of the opinion that the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions should be obtained with respect to the prosecution of the following persons:
Ivan Petch
* The common law offence of misconduct in public office in relation to his handling of the discovery of adult material on Mr Neish's computer and his attempts to leak the material to the media.
* Five offences of giving false or misleading evidence pursuant to section 87 of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 relating to the discovery of adult material on John Neish's computer.
* The common law offence of misconduct in public office in relation to his release of confidential advice from the Department of Planning and Infrastructure, and also internal Council emails concerning planning approvals.
* Making an unwarranted demand with menaces with the intention of influencing the exercise of a public duty pursuant to section 249K of the Crimes Act 1900 in relation to the approach to Danielle Dickson.
* Offences of accepting an indirect campaign contribution pursuant to section 96E of the Election Funding, Expenditure and Disclosures Act 1981 in relation to advertising published in The Weekly Times on 1, 7, 15, and 22 August 2012, and also 29 August and 5 September 2012.

Full report here.

Friday 17 June 2016

Mike Seccombe on NSW Premier "Teflon Mike" Baird


Journalist Mike Seccombe writing in The Saturday Paper on 11 June 2016:

People tagged him “Teflon”, because nothing stuck to Mike Baird.

Called to leadership in inauspicious circumstances two years ago, he was clean, shiny and charismatic. And also bold. He determined to privatise the state’s electricity distribution system. Many other governments had foundered on the issue, but Baird took it to last year’s election and still won a thumping majority.

He was one of those rare politicians who transcended his party. He became not just a state premier but also a national political role model to many. When the federal Coalition government was going badly under Tony Abbott’s leadership, Mike Baird was most often cited as the alternative ideal.

And no wonder. For almost two years he was by far the most popular political leader in the nation.

But no more. According to the most recent Morgan poll of national leaders, Baird has been bested for the first time since he became premier of New South Wales…..

Baird is not under imminent threat, but he is “Teflon Mike” no more.

These days he is more commonly described as “Casino Mike”, a reference to his government’s endlessly obliging approach to James Packer’s plan for the giant development at Barangaroo. Since it was originally, controversially approved under former premier Barry O’Farrell, the development has grown 100 metres in height and its floor space has more than doubled in size.

It has not escaped the critics’ attention that the Packer family are among the biggest donors to Baird’s party. Nor that the state’s controversial lockout laws, intended to stop late-night, alcohol-fuelled assaults, do not apply to the very violent precinct around the city’s existing casino, The Star, and also excise Barangaroo.

But there is a lot more to his decline than that, as was evidenced a couple of weeks ago when thousands of protesters descended on central Sydney. They came with a smorgasbord of issues, ranging from the local – the route of contentious WestConnex motorway, the axing of scores of ancient fig trees to facilitate construction of a light rail project – to the general – the sacking of 42 local councils across the state, draconian police powers and anti-protest laws, cuts to school and TAFE funding and the government’s extensive privatisation agenda.

Quite suddenly, an awful lot of things are sticking to Baird. The punters are increasingly questioning his motives and the insiders are questioning his political judgement.

In February, when the federal government was floundering about seeking a tax reform agenda, there was no stronger advocate of an increased GST than Baird.

“I am convinced our political leaders and our community are ready to take the right, hard decisions for our future,” he said…..

It’s not just that Andrews read the wind better. It’s that the GST business served to underline something about Baird that people were already starting to realise: this “moderate” Liberal is actually very hardline on matters economic. The former investment banker is a deep neoliberal.

The government’s record of privatisation tells the story, says the Greens’ David Shoebridge.

“He’s sold the big ticket items: electricity generation, electricity transmission, ports. And now they’re looking around for things people would have thought immune.”

It is quite a list. Care services to 50,000 elderly and disabled residents living in their homes have been privatised. Three hundred inner-city housing commission properties have been sold for some $500 million, to fund the building of new accommodation miles away in the outer suburbs of the Illawarra and Blue Mountains.

And, most recently, the state’s land titles service has been privatised.

“The land titles system delivers about $60 million to the state each year. It’s a profit centre for government, but it seems any profit centre, any service they can identify they are ideologically committed to selling,” Shoebridge says.

“It puts a corruption risk at the heart of land titles in NSW.”

Of course, such criticism is unsurprising from a political opponent, particularly from the Greens. But it is echoed by the Law Society of NSW.

The sale should not proceed, said society president Gary Ulman, out of concern about “adequate protection of sensitive data, the continued implementation of best practice anti-fraud measures”.

The Baird government’s determination to guard the interests of the private sector is nowhere more obvious than in its approach to those who protest against coal and coal seam gas developments.

Legislation passed in March increased tenfold the fines faced by protesters to $5500 and provided for jail for up to seven years for “unlawful aggravated entry” to mine sites. The new laws also gave police new search and seizure powers and allowed them greater latitude under “move on powers” to break up demonstrations.

“This changed laws in place since 1901,” the chief executive and principal solicitor with the state’s Environmental Defenders Office, Sue Higginson, says.

“They have turned them into laws that privilege a particular component of society, the business community.”

The new anti-protest laws, in force from this week, are but one aspect of the progressive erosion of civil liberties under this government, Shoebridge says. 

“They have criminalised protest. So many police powers have been extended, so much court oversight has been removed that we have the machinery in place for a police state… A police officer can prohibit you from going to a club, to your church or mosque, your political meeting.”

Shoebridge’s critique might sound extreme were it not for the fact that the legal community – the Law Society and Bar Association – concur.

In a statement in April, the president of the NSW Bar Association, Noel Hutley, described the serious crime prevention orders legislation as “an unprecedented attack on individual freedoms and the rule of law”. 

“The bill creates broad new powers which can be used to interfere in the liberty and privacy of persons and to restrict their freedom of movement, expression, communication and assembly,” he said. “The powers are not subject to necessary legal constraints or appropriate and adequate judicial oversight and in many cases basic rules of evidence are circumvented.”
His detailed critique was utterly swingeing. His reflection on the attitude of the government to civil liberties was damning.

This is a government not averse to applying blunt force to opponents. The saga of local council amalgamations provides another example.

Leaving aside the matter of whether amalgamating small councils into bigger ones is desirable – though there has been strong community resistance – it is the way the government went about it that is troubling.

They simply sacked them and installed in their place administrators who will run the councils until September next year. The administrators are in many cases the same people who advised amalgamation or political fellow travellers of the government – former conservative politicians or party apparatchiks…..

The giant accounting firm KPMG was employed as an independent arbiter of the financial benefits of the mergers. Documents have since surfaced suggesting the firm was not independent at all, but was engaged specifically to make the case for amalgamations.

The Land and Environment Court has ordered the government to provide documents about the role KPMG played in implementing the council amalgamation agenda.

Baird faces a long succession of legal actions.

Then there is the environment, where further changes are imminent under legislation due for introduction in the spring session of parliament.

“We’re talking about wholesale changes to an entire suite of environmental laws,” Sue Higginson says. “We’re talking about simply throwing out some of the global leading-edge laws dating back to the Carr government. Our view is that this is a catastrophic step backwards.”

The new laws, she says, open the way for broad-scale land clearing by rural landholders.

Jeff Angel, of the Total Environment Centre, takes up the story: “It allows clearing for almost any purpose, with minimal consent and monitoring. It’s appalling.

“Frankly, the more we look at it, the more it looks like [the laws introduced by the former Campbell Newman government in] Queensland.”……

Read the full article here.


Tuesday 29 March 2016

And you thought local government amalgamation news couldn't get any worse......


The Sydney Morning Herald, 28 March 2016:

NSW councillors have been told to reapply for their jobs, as the NSW government lays the groundwork to terminate existing councils as early as next month and begin amalgamations.

On Thursday, all councillors received a letter from the Minister for Local Government Paul Toole, telling them he was considering interim arrangements for councils until elections are held after September. He said he was looking at options of a single person acting as administrator of a new merged council, or the continuation in office of some or all of the councillors in the new larger council area.

Councillors have been ordered to  submit an expression of interest by April 15, explaining why they would be suitable for the interim council or why they are qualified to act as an administrator.

General managers and mayors are also required to apply for the jobs in the new larger councils.

This is despite the Boundaries Commission still having to report on the merger proposals, most of which are being resisted by existing councils.

Most public inquiries have finished and the delegates for each council area are preparing their reports. They will then go to the minister and to the boundaries commission. The minister then makes a decision to accept or reject the finding on the merger. But given this is the minister's blueprint, most councils expect him to forge ahead with mergers, possibly as soon at the end of April…..

To date a search of the NSW Boundaries Commission website does not list Tweed Shire Council, Ballina Shire Council, Byron Shire Council, Clarence Valley Council, Lismore City Council, Richmond Valley Council and Kyogle Council (which comprise the NSW Northern Rivers region) as being affected by this round of local government amalgamations.

However, it would be foolish of local communities to ignore the fact that some Northern Rivers mayors and general managers would favour amalgamation - seeing it as the road to increased personal incomes, greater power and wider political influence - and indeed may be quietly indicating to the Baird Government that amalgamation into a larger local government area is their preference.

Friday 25 March 2016

Liberal Party of Australia: when faced with corruption allegations first ignore, then deny, defy and threaten - ending all with weasel words


The Liberal Party of Australia was warned, the Liberal Party ignored, the Liberal Party denied, defied and then told political lies to the electorate…..

The general warning that went out


The NSW Electoral Commission will take enforcement action against 14 entities and individuals that have missed the deadline or entirely failed to disclose political donations they received between 1 July 2014 and 1 March 2015.

The NSW Electoral Commission received 411 declarations on behalf of parties, elected members, candidates, groups and third-party campaigners for the Additional Disclosure Period in the lead-up to the 28 March State Election.

Out of the entities and individuals required to lodge a declaration, five have failed to lodge and 11 lodged a declaration after the due date, making a total of 16 contraventions.
"The Commission takes seriously the rules on disclosing political donations and will be taking enforcement action against 14 entities and individuals that, on the information known to the Commission, have broken the law," said NSW Electoral Commission Chairperson, Hon Keith Mason AC QC.

"We have issued Penalty Notices and Cautions according to the seriousness of the contravention and will also be considering a prosecution in one case."

The declarations that have been lodged are a matter of public record and are published on the NSW Electoral Commission website at: http://adp.elections.nsw.gov.au/

The declarations must disclose political donations of $1,000 or more received between 1 July 2014 and 1 March 2015. If no donations were received, declarations should have been lodged to that effect.

This additional requirement on parties and candidates applied only to the 2015 State Election and was introduced in accordance with the interim recommendations of the Panel of Experts on Political Donations.

The Panel has since delivered its final report which has proposed long term reform options on political donations.

For more information about disclosure of political donations generally or the State Elections to be held on 28 March 2015, visit the NSWEC website at http://www.elections.nsw.gov.au


Forming a new Commission

The year saw significant structural change, following implementation of a 2013 recommendation of the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters. The Committee found that our electoral legislation required a comprehensive review with a focus on consistency, functionality and modernisation. The Committee recommended a new electoral Act for NSW that would cover both the conduct of State elections and the regulation of campaign fi nance and disclosures, and that the new Act be administered by a single statutory corporation.

Consequently, legislative change during the year reconstituted the Commission so that it consists of the Electoral Commissioner, a former Judge as Chairperson of the Commission and a member with financial or audit skills, instead of it being constituted only by the Electoral Commissioner. The Election Funding Authority was abolished and its functions conferred on the reconstituted Commission. The new Commission is therefore responsible for administering the election funding, expenditure and disclosure scheme in NSW. The Commission’s role is also to provide “assistance” to the Electoral Commissioner in his statutory function of conducting elections.

Legislative change in 2014 also empowered the Commission to investigate and undertake enforcement actions for breaches against the Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Act 1912 and the Lobbying of Government Officials Act 2011. This has moved our function from largely administrative to a greater focus on client services and regulation, with increased investigative and enforcement activities. We now have additional objectives of promoting campaign finance transparency and enforcing compliance with the legislation.

Ignoring evidence of the Commission’s resolve in the first instance


Mr Robert Smith, Registered Officer of the Fishing Party, was convicted on 13 July 2015, at the Downing Centre Local Court, of failure to lodge a declaration of disclosure of donations received and made and expenditure incurred pursuant to s.96H(1) of the Election Funding, Expenditure and Disclosures Act 1981 ("the Act").

Mr Smith was required to lodge a declaration with the NSW Electoral Commission, in the prescribed form, by 23 September 2013 and failed to do so. His Honour Local Court Magistrate Grogin emphasised, when sentencing Mr Smith, the importance of the transparency of political parties in relation to the declaration of political donations, regardless of the size or financial means of the political party. Grogin LCM also considered that general and specific deterrence are important considerations when sentencing for such an offence. Further, his Honour emphasised that ignorance of the law is no excuse in failing to comply with the requirements in the Act.

His Honour Grogin LCM convicted Mr Smith and ordered him to pay a fine of $2750, being the amount of the initial penalty notice issued by the NSW Electoral Commission, as well as awarding costs to the prosecutor of $5000.

The matter was investigated by the NSW Electoral Commission and prosecuted on its behalf by the Crown Solicitor's Office.

On 27 July 2015 the Commission was notified that Mr Smith has lodged an appeal of his conviction with the District Court. The matter is listed for mention on 23 September at the Sydney District Court.

"The Commission takes seriously the rules on disclosing political donations and expenditure and will take enforcement action against entities and individuals that, on the information known to the Commission, have broken the law," said NSW Electoral Commission Chairperson, Hon Keith Mason AC QC.

Ignoring its own predicament in the second instance, denying and defying

Excerpts from NSWEC, 23 March 2016 document: Final Summary of Facts – Decision re Liberal Party


20. On 1.1 February 203.6 the Acting Electoral Commissioner wrote on behalf of the Commission to the Party Agent of the Party, Mr MCInnes . The letter outlined the Commission's tentative concerns and invited submissions directed to the two legal issues mentioned above as well as the issue as to whether a final payment should be made under the Election Campaigns Fund in light of these matters.

21. The letter in reply from Mr MCInnes dated 18 February 2016 did not advance any response to the suggestion about the invalidity of The Free Enterprise Foundation "trust". The letter further asserted that the Party had and has no responsibility to disclose information relating to individual donors to the Foundation, a position that the Commission completely disputes. The invitation to remedy the deficient 201.1 declaration was firmly declined.

22. On 24 February 2016 the Commission considered whether the Party was eligible for public funding taking into account sections 70(I) and 97L(I) of the Act. The Commission was not at that stage satisfied that the Party was eligible, because the Party had failed to disclose reportable political donations for the period ending 30 June 2011.

23. Since public monies totalling $4,389,822.80 is at issue the Commission decided to give the Party a further opportunity to change its stance or satisfy the Commission that the Commission's tentative views were erroneous. A letter was sent to Mr MCInnes on 26 February 2016 enclosing a draft Summary of Facts document and inviting the Party's response.

24. On 18 March 2016, Swaab Attorneys forwarded the Party's response. None of the Summary of Facts were disputed,

25. The Party's response contended that a declaration in requisite form had been lodged and that its adequacy in terms of detail was irrelevant to the decision confronting the Commission under sections 7011) and 97L(I),

26. The Commission rejects this submission for the reasons already set out. Neither does the Commission accept the submission that the amount that must be withheld cannot exceed the total of unlawful donations involved. For one thing, this ignores the matters set out in paragraphs 2 and 3 above. On 23 March 2016 SWAAB Attorneys sent a further letter on behalf of the Party urging the Commission to release all but $693,000 of the funding claimed. After careful consideration the Commission believes it does not have discretion in this matter having regard to the terms of sections 70(I) and 97(I) of the Act.

Full 5-page document here.

A response to that defiant stand


The NSW Electoral Commission has decided that the Liberal Party of Australia (NSW Division) is not eligible for payment of its current claims for about $4.4 million in public funding because it failed to disclose the identities of all major political donors in its 2011 declaration.

Effective 23 March 2016, the Liberal Party will not receive further funding from the Election Campaigns Fund or the Administration Fund, administered by the Commission. The Party will remain ineligible until it discloses all reportable political donations in relation 10 its 201I declaration. These donations include some made by donors identified during the ICAC's public hearings in Operation Spicer.

The Liberal Party did not submit a "requisite declaration", which is a breach of the Election Funding,  Expenditure and  Disclosures Act 1981.

The Commission considered the public evidence generated by ICAC's Operation Spicer and other information held by the Commission and information and submissions put forward on behalf of the Liberal Party and The Free Enterprise Foundation. Since I I February 2016, the Liberal Party was given opportunities to rectify its declaration but  it declined to do so.

Copy of full document and related correspondence here.

Threats of legal action

Excerpt from SWAAB Attorneys letter to NSWEC, 23 March 2016:

As is clear from the Response attached to our letter of t 8 March 2016, our client denies that it has in any way given an incorrect disclosure for the year ended 30 June 2011. Nevertheless, at paragraph 12 of our response, we suggested that at the very least the NSWEC should release the Funding, but withhold $693,000 pending resolution of the matters in issue concerning the donations from the FEF (Balance Funding).

Provision of the Funding, or the Balance Funding, is of critical importance to our client. We are instructed that our client requires the Funding or the Balance Funding in order to continue its operations. If the Balance Funding is not received by 30 April20,6 our client will be forced to take emergency measures, the most likely of which will be forced retrenchment of staff. Even then, retrenchment of staff will only allow it to carry on its operations for a relatively short period of time thereafter.

You are also aware that there will be a federal election this year, perhaps as early as 2 July 2006, placing further pressure on our client's financial position, and our client requires provision of the Funding or the Balance Funding as a matter of urgency.

We require that the NSWEC pay to our client the Balance Funding by 30 March 2016.

If this request is not met, our client has no choice but to apply to the Supreme Court of New South Wales for urgent relief that, inter alia, the monies be paid to our client without further delay.

This is an open letter and will be tendered on any application made to the Supreme Court, including on the question of costs.

Liberal Senator for NSW and Cabinet Secretary (Turnbull Government) Arthur Sinodinos1, 24 March 2016: Statement - NSW Electoral Commission

It is a matter for the NSW State Division to respond to the matters raised by the NSW Electoral Commission in its statement.

I had no role in the NSW Division’s decision to decline to update information disclosed in that declaration, as was requested by the Commission.

For my part, my lawyers have written to the Commission to draw its attention to errors of fact in its statement in relation to me. I was not given the opportunity by the Commission to comment on its statement before its publication and I was not aware of the publication until shortly prior to its release.

The Statement already has been extensively cited by the media. In a number of instances, there has been erroneous commentary to the effect that I “concealed” illegal donations, and that my actions were somehow corrupt or illegal. That media commentary is a direct consequence of the NSW Electoral Commission’s flawed publication.

In light of these matters, my lawyers on my behalf have invited the Commission to immediately retract all references to me in the publication. The Commission has been invited to publish a correction to that effect on its website.

Those weasel words in the media

The Australian, 24 March 2016:

The party's NSW division says it had been waiting for the state's corruption watchdog to hand down its findings from hearings in 2014, but will comply with the commission's ruling.

"I have written to the commission this afternoon seeking their assistance in resolving any areas of uncertainty about the legal status of donors in the 2010/2011 period," a spokeswoman said in a statement on Thursday evening.

"The NSW division has already publicly acknowledged and apologised to the people of NSW for these matters."

1. Senator Sinodinos was the Liberal Party (NSW Division) finance director and treasurer during the period in question. His name was mentioned twice in the Summary Of Facts Relevant To The Decision Of The New South Wales Electoral Commission: Liberal Party Of Australia (NSW Division) Claim For Public Funding. In both instances the mention was confined to words to the effect that evidence was given at ICAC hearings of the involvement of other senior Liberal Party officials constituting the Party's Finance Committee in arrangements touching the Free Enterprise Foundation, including Arthur Sinodinos as then Finance Director/Treasurer.

BACKGROUND

North Coast Voices,19 September 2014:

So what is this Free Enterprise Foundation of which they speak?


According to evidence before the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and other sources, the Free Enterprise Foundation:

* Is listed by the Australian Electoral Commission as an associated entity of the federal divisions of the Liberal Party of Australia and the National Party of Australia.

* Was created by deed on 20 August 1981 as a $10 trust at the direction of Sir Robert Crichton-Brown, federal treasurer of the Liberal Party of Australia from 1973 to 1985.

* Has set out its objectives in the trust deed are as follows:
 * Original trustees were Anthony Joseph Bandle and Charles James Fox who comprised the trust’s original Council. The current trustees are Anthony Bandle and Stephen Francis McAneney.  Both of whom were also trustees of the Greenfields Foundation, an associated entity which was allegedly set up to hide from public view a 1992 $4.7 million political donation to the Liberal Party.
* Accountants are Bandle McAneney & Company.

*  Name was registered with the Australian Security & Investments Commission as a business name in 2012.

* Receives political donations which the trust directs onto the Liberal Party of Australia, the Liberal National Party of Queensland, other associated entities of the Liberal Party and, infrequently to registered charities.

In practice the Free Enterprise Foundation does not appear to fulfil all the prescribed purposes set out in the trust document, does not seem to operate independently of the Liberal Party of Australia and, has accepted political donations from prohibited donors in New South Wales which it redirected to the Liberal Party of Australia (NSW Division).

Rather disingenuously former NSW Deputy State Director of the Liberal Party and former Metgasco Limited executive, Richard Shields, stated during a 12 September 2014 ICAC Operation Spicer hearing in relation to the Free Enterprise Foundation, which had donated approximately $700,000 to the Liberal Party to fund its 2011 NSW election campaign:

I knew that it existed, I, I didn’t have a lot, a great understanding of it. I had heard, you know, I, I was of the opinion that it was an organisation that had political or philosophical 
allegiances with the conservative side of politics.