The Sydney Morning Herald 26 March 2015:
A Chinese
government-owned energy company that is a potential buyer of NSW electricity
assets, State Grid Corp, was the subject of a "major" state audit
last year which uncovered allegations of corruption amounting to more than $1
billion.
As Premier
Mike Baird on Wednesday was asked more questions about the company and its
dealings with the NSW government it has emerged that State Grid Corp's
president, Liu Zhenya, was named as a key focus of the probe.
Mr Baird's
office confirmed that a State Grid Corp executive, Shu Yinbiao, was one of
those present at a business roundtable addressed by Mr Baird during his trip to
China in September, not its president Mr Liu as previously advised……
However, the
Wall Street Journal said in June the audit, which also involved another
state-owned electricity company, China Southern Power Grid Company, focused on
contracts for a west-to-east electricity transmission system.
The newspaper
said China's national audit agency alleged that "more than $1 billion was misappropriated
in less than four months [during 2013] in the construction and running of
portions of a major electricity grid system".
Asked if Mr
Baird knew about the revelations before his China visit, his office said it had
"no further comment".
Fairfax Media
can reveal that State Grid Corp's attendance at a roundtable addressed by Mr
Baird was omitted from an official report on his trade trip to China last year.
Mr Baird on
Wednesday repeatedly refused to detail meetings held during the trip to China
last September, which aimed to drum up interest in NSW infrastructure projects.
The Coalition
government's plan to partially lease the electricity "poles and
wires" and spend the proceeds on infrastructure is the centrepiece of its
re-election campaign…..
Under Mr
Baird's reforms to political lobbying, ministers are required to publish
details of external meetings.
But on
Wednesday Mr Baird said the rules did not apply to trips abroad, saying
"there's a different process for international trips, that's well
established".
A spokesman
for Mr Baird later said the Department of Premier and Cabinet had been advised
that details of ministers' meetings on official overseas missions "should
not be disclosed through the ministerial diary process as there is appropriate
disclosure of such meetings through mission reports".
However the
mission report from Mr Baird's China trip does not mention a meeting with State
Grid Corp.
Asked later
on Wednesday why the meeting was omitted, Mr Baird said he had complied with disclosure
obligations for overseas trips.
At the news
conference he declined to say who else was at the September roundtable meeting.
"I am
not going to go into individual meetings. As Treasurer and Premier I met with
hundreds if not thousands [of potential investors]. My job is to encourage
investment into NSW," he said…..
