NSW ICAC is circling the Liberal Party once more

The Sydney Morning Herald, 3 August 2016:

One month after being praised by the Prime Minister as an "outstanding" candidate for federal parliament, Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun appears set to be dumped by the Liberal party for council elections.

Proving that four weeks is an eternity in Sydney politics, Liberal heavyweights asked Cr Mannoun to step down as the party's candidate for mayoralty soon after they were talking up his chances of a historic federal election win.

The change in Cr Mannoun's political fortunes came last month, when his home was raided by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Cr Mannoun put out a press release about the raid, saying he was "delighted" about the investigation and that ICAC was acting at his invitation, because he wanted to disprove allegations raised against him. But the key factional figures who decide the party ticket appear unswayed.

It appears Liverpool Liberal Tony Hadchiti, the president of the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils, will succeed Cr Mannoun.

The party will officially vote to install candidates Saturday in what is a hastily convened preselection.

But some candidates have been knocked out of the ballot, making the preselection almost entirely uncontested.

The Liberal party's executive passed on Tuesday morning a motion giving extra powers to its director, Chris Stone, which could be used to suspend or knock out candidates…..

ABC News, 14 July 2016:

Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun's car has been searched by officers as part of corruption probe.

ABC News, 31 March 2016:

A Sydney council has banned its mayor from speaking on its behalf — the latest move in a long-running and bitter internal power struggle.

On Wednesday evening, the majority of Liverpool council passed a motion removing Mayor Ned Mannoun as its spokesman.

It also voted to scrap the Mayor's message in the monthly newsletter, replace his column in the local newspaper, and remove his photo from council invitations and publications.

It comes after the council mounted several attempts to fire embattled CEO Carl Wulff, who caved in to pressure and resigned this month……

Australian Federal Election 2016: Kristina Keneally's open letter to Cabinet Secretary Senator Arthur Sinodinos

The Guardian, Open letter to Senator Arthur Sinodinos, from Kristina Keneally, 29 April 2016:

Woody Allen said 80% of life is showing up. 

Every single day of my ministerial career I showed up. I did my job. I answered the hard questions. I faced the opposition, the media and the public.

Ask any NSW press gallery journalist. As premier I ended every media conference by asking, “Are there any more questions?”, and the journalists answering no.

Ask your fellow Coalition colleagues in NSW. Every time they called an inquiry, no matter how politically motivated, I showed up. An upper house inquiry into the murder of Michael McGurk: I showed up. An upper house inquiry into the sale of electricity assets: I showed up. 

After Barry O’Farrell was elected he instituted a second electricity transactions inquiry, conducted by Justice Tamberlin. I volunteered to show up to that as well, but was never called.  

Not one of these inquiries made adverse findings. If anything, these processes vindicated my actions. Tamberlin found my government acted with probity in regard to the electricity transactions and achieved the best possible result for taxpayers.   

As for planning, there was absolutely no evidence uncovered of any planning official involved in McGurk’s murder. Later Icac found no evidence of corruption in the NSW planning system while I was minister. 

So why won’t you turn up to the Senate and answer questions about the fundraising activities of the NSW Liberal party in the 2011 NSW state election?

Did you know the Free Enterprise Foundation was taking funds from prohibited donors and sending them to the NSW Liberal party? If you didn’t know, why not? You were the honorary treasurer and finance committee chair, after all. 

Who conceived this scheme? What legal advice did you receive? What advice did you give to candidates in regards to NSW fundraising laws and prohibited donors? Was O’Farrell aware of the washing of funds from prohibited donors? 

Here’s the question I really want you to answer: why the hell did the Liberal party undertake such stupid, questionable and potentially illegal acts in that election? I led a 16-year-old government that was trailing some pretty high profile scandals. Surely you could have just passed the plate for gold coin donations at the Ku-ring-gai and Manly Liberal party branch meetings and still won the election. 

Was it hubris? Was it immaturity? Was it carelessness? Was it idiocy?

Your party’s fundraising tipped more money into key seats and likely ended the careers of several good, hardworking Labor MPs who were simply outspent in the campaign. Now we know why. The funds were ill-gotten. The NSW Liberal party subverted democracy. Do you care?

I know you are at both the beginning and the end of your political career. After years of supporting others as an adviser, you finally have your chance to be the man, to make the decisions, to run the show and be seen to run the show.  

But this is also the end. You aren’t young. This is your second chance. There won’t be a third go. You are likely terrified this is how your whole career will be defined. 

You seem willing to do whatever it takes, including disrespecting the Senate when it exercises its proper authority, in the hope you can avoid the tough questions. 

You can’t. Not forever. 

I didn’t always believe in karma, but that bottle of vintage Grange a few years ago reminded me that people, more often than not, reap what they sow. 

Show up. 

Public statement by NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption concerning the High Court decision of 15 April 2015

Found at @political_alert 

Friday 13: and so it begins for Edward Moses 'Eddie' Obeid

NSW Court Notice:

BACKGROUND

NSW ICAC finds Obeid, Tripodi, Dunn engaged in corrupt conduct

NSW voters are one step closer to knowing who "A Co" is

On 24 June 2014, the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) issued a summons to “A Co” requiring the production of certain documents, relating to email accounts and electronic calendars, in accordance with s 35(1)(a) of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988.

“A Co” went to the NSW Supreme Court in August 2014 unsuccessfully seeking to quash the summons. The court concluding: There is nothing in the material before me or otherwise to support a conclusion that the Commission's decision to issue the summons miscarried, that the permissible scope of a summons issued under s 35 of the Act has been exceeded or that the law pursuant to which the summons was issued was otherwise invalid on constitutional grounds. In those circumstances, the plaintiff's challenge to the Commission's summons should be dismissed.

“A Co” then appealed the Supreme Court judgement in A v Independent Commission Against Corruption [2014] NSWCA 414 and lost on 5 December 2014, with the court continuing the suppression of the identity of the (a) the applicant or (b) the person whose electronic records are sought to be produced to the ICAC  until public release of any ICAC report of the investigation to which the summons to produce relates, or until further order of this Court.

As ICAC will not be issuing reports on any investigations ahead of the hearing of Independent Commission against Corruption v. Cunneen & Ors S302/2014 in the Australian High Court on 4 March 2015 and subsequent judgment, there are some months yet to wait on any unmasking of “A Co”.

Thereafter, the Streisand Effect may possibly come into play.