Perrottet Government's terse goodbye to NSW Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner to Americas, John Barilaro

IMAGE: AAP at 2GB radio

The Perrottet Government's once removed, brief final goodbye to its former National Party colleague for over 10 years, John Dominic Barilaro (left) and, its foolish attempt to warn off mainstream media journalists from contacting him with regard to the political scandal currently surrounding his alleged actions in the months immediately prior to and after his retirement from politics.

Medianet Press Release, 30 June 2022:

Response regarding John Barilaro - Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner Americas role

Department of Enterprise Investment and Trade

Statement from Secretary, Department of Enterprise, Investment and Trade, and CEO, Investment NSW, Amy Brown

This evening Mr John Barilaro notified me that he is withdrawing from the role of Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner Americas, effective immediately.

I request that his privacy be respected at this time.

Investment NSW is assisting the Department of Premier and Cabinet and NSW Legislative Council Inquiry in reviews of the Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner Americas recruitment process, and as such it is not appropriate to make any further comment.

Do We Need A Royal Commission Into The Banks?

The Fairfax Ipsos poll of April 17 found 65% of the public supported a banking Royal Commission.  Yet the Government (minus initially a few backbenchers) vigorously opposes it, slamming it as “populist”, “reckless”, a “distraction”, and a waste of money.  Furthermore the Government claims it would take too long and be likely to erode public confidence in the finance system.

These Government spokesmen – Turnbull, Morrison, Cormann and others – obviously cannot see that the community is sick of the recurring finance sector scandals and has no confidence in any current measures for making these powerful institutions behave ethically – and indeed within the law.

Another oft-cited reason for the Government’s rejection of a royal commission is that we already have “a tough cop on the beat” in the form of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).  ASIC, they reiterate, has both the power to investigate and to prosecute.  They point out that while a Royal Commission can investigate, it has no power to prosecute.

While the “tough cop’s” powers may exist, it has not had any success in stemming the flow of finance sector scandals.  Indeed many of the revelations of bad behaviour have not been as a result of ASIC investigations but the work of whistleblowers and financial journalists. And it would seem that the fines resulting from ASIC investigations have seemed more like “slaps on the wrist” for bad behaviour rather than effective deterrents.

In addition the “tough cop”, along with other government entities, has had its response capacity limited by the very Government which claims ASIC has all that is needed to keep the banks and other finance institutions in line.  In the 2014 budget ASIC lost $120 million over 5 years.  This has obviously affected its investigative capacity.

The increasing clamour for a Royal Commission has worried the Government because of the proximity of the election. Consequently Treasurer Morrison announced recently a series of measures which he claims will solve the bank problem.  These measures include at least $120 million in extra funding, tougher penalties for wrong-doing, greater powers for ASIC and an extra commissioner to focus on prosecuting crimes in the finance sector.  These changes will be financed by the banks who will be hit with a levy of $121 million. The costs to the banks are not, according to the Government, to be passed on to bank customers.

Morrison and the Government are obviously hoping this response will undermine the appeal of Labor’s Royal Commission commitment. Presumably the Government backbenchers  who were supporting the need for a Royal Commission are now satisfied but it’s doubtful that many in the broader community – and particularly those who have been ripped off by the banks – will be.

Those who want the kind of extensive open inquiry that a Royal Commission can provide, have no confidence in ASIC as a body to expose and deal with financial industry malpractice.  This view was highlighted by a Senate committee in 2014 which found ASIC to be “a timid, hesitant regulator, too ready and willing to accept uncritically the word of the bank”.  There is considerable doubt about whether these latest measures will change that. 

Furthermore, is ASIC to investigate its own responses to the plethora of financial scandals? This is a matter which certainly needs to be investigated to ensure that such inadequate responses do not happen again.  Conflict of interest issues mean ASIC cannot be given this important task.  There is, of course, a question about whether the Government wants a light shone on ASIC’s performance just as there is a question about what appears to be its cosy relationship with the banking/finance industry.

This close relationship has been seen as a major reason for the reluctance of the Abbott/Turnbull Government to take effective action to protect consumers.  A prime example of this was its desire to wind back the Future of Financial Advice reforms legislated by the previous Labor Government.   These reforms had been introduced to protect customers from unscrupulous behaviour by advisers and their employers.  The Government failed to wind them back only because of Senate opposition.  Another more recent example of this close relationship is the funding the National Australia Bank is providing as a co-sponsor for a political fundraising breakfast for Kelly O’Dwyer, member for Higgins and the Assistant Treasurer.

The sense of entitlement that banks have about being able to operate with as little government interference as possible – even when behaving badly – was clearly obvious early this month after Labor announced that, if elected, it would hold a banking Royal Commission.  The head of the banking industry lobby, the Australian Bankers Association, refused to rule out the possibility of a mining-style tax ad campaign against Labor.  Presumably the widespread community support for a Royal Commission revealed in a recent poll might make this lobby group realize that such a campaign could backfire.

What is very obvious is that there is a need to shine a very strong light on the banking/ finance industry in order to force the changes that are required to make it fairer and more responsive to customer needs.  Moreover there is an ongoing need to ensure proper compensation for consumers who have been hurt by unscrupulous behaviour over recent years.  And the “bad apples” in the sector need to be identified and removed.  This would lead to a marked improvement in public confidence in the banking/finance system.  The Government measures are clearly too little, too late and were merely rolled out because of fear of an electoral backlash rather than because of any conviction that action was needed.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has shown how powerful is the shining of a strong, very public light on institutions which have done the wrong thing.  We need a Royal Commission into the banking/finance industry to force a sweeping clean-up in this sector.

Hildegard

Northern Rivers

GuestSpeak is a feature of North Coast Voices allowing Northern Rivers residents to make satirical or serious comment on issues that concern them. Posts of 250-300 words or less can be submitted to ncvguestspeak AT gmail.com.au for consideration. Longer posts will be considered on topical subjects.

Dennis Shanahan finally loses any grip on reality

Mal Brough (top) and Dennis Shanahan (bottom)

 

Dennis Shanahan writing in The Australian on 12 December 2012:

 

FORMER Howard government minister and putative MP for Fisher, Mal Brough, is the latest political casualty in the ongoing scandals surrounding Peter Slipper….

But the real political victim is now Brough, who stands accused of working with Ashby and co-worker Karen Doane in an underhanded political scheme based on disloyalty, political preferment, duplicity, and lies - all aimed at bringing down Slipper and promoting Brough….

In the face of what is set out below, one wonders in what alternative reality this political editor now dwells if he can seriously apply the term “victim” to this man.

Justice Rares findings concerning Mal Brough in his Ashby v Commonwealth of Australia and Peter Slipper judgment of 12 December 2012:

 

135 Mr Ashby asserted to Mr Harmer that his justification for his disloyalty as an employee in providing copies of Mr Slipper’s 2009 and 2010 diaries was that he wished to place the material in the public domain. That was, his assertion went, because he “believed that the conduct was morally and legally wrong and he felt aggrieved that he had been placed in the situation of becoming, as he understood it, exposed to (and potentially implicated in) what he regarded as the wrongful conduct of a public official”: [116] above. The words I have emphasised were ambiguous. If they referred to Mr Slipper’s conduct on the days covered by the 2009 and 2010 diary entries he surreptitiously sent to Mr Brough and Mr Lewis, there is no evidence to support Mr Ashby’s description or that he had any knowledge of particular conduct of Mr Slipper that was morally or legally wrong prior to him or Ms Doane sending the diary extracts to Mr Brough and Mr Lewis.

136 …..Rather, Mr Ashby’s and Ms Doane’s conduct at that point indicated that he and she were anxious to supply information to Mr Brough and Mr Lewis so that they could use it to assemble an attack on Mr Slipper, if they could find sufficient material to do so, using the diary entries and other evidence…..

138 I am also satisfied that Mr Ashby and Ms Doane by about 29 March 2012 were in a combination with Mr Brough to cause Mr Slipper as much political and public damage as they could inflict on him….

141 Mr Brough was unlikely to have been offering to assist Ms Doane and Mr Ashby in seeing Mr Russell QC for advice or looking for new careers out of pure altruism. Realistically, his preparedness to act for them was created and fed by their willingness to act against Mr Slipper’s interests and assisting Mr Brough’s and the LNP’s interests in destabilising Mr Slipper’s position as Speaker and damaging him in the eyes of his electorate…..

142…. Certainly, the nature of the allegations that Mr Brough, Ms Doane and Mr Ashby had provided Mr Lewis in about late March and early April 2012 would have suggested to a political journalist that there would now be more than one news story about Mr Slipper to pursue….

146 Mr Ashby and Mr Lewis had planned that articles about Mr Slipper’s use of travel entitlements would be published shortly before these proceedings were filed. They both knew that Mr Lewis would be able to publish further articles on the subject matter as soon as it was filed in Court in the originating application. Ms Doane and Mr Brough had also discussed the timing and sequence of publication of stories by Mr Lewis. So much is clear from Mr Ashby’s texts to Mr Nagle of 10 April 2012, Glen of 11 April 2012 and Ms Doane’s email to Mr Brough of 10 April 2012: see [82], [90], [86]. The planning reveals that Mr Ashby calculated how he would attack, and use the press to attack, Mr Slipper.

147 Mr Ashby had planned with Mr Lewis, and probably separately with Ms Doane and Mr Brough, the sequence of publications so as to raise the more serious allegations in the originating process, after the stories of 16 April 2012 appeared. The timing of those 16 April stories was linked to when the originating application would be filed. Once Mr Ashby began seeing Harmers and went into “lock down”, Mr Brough and Mr Lewis became anxious to know when the proceedings would be ready to be filed. Hence their strenuous attempts to contact Mr Ashby once he began to act on Mr McClellan’s advice to filter media contact through him. Mr Ashby had emphasised in his text to Mr Lewis on 10 April 2012 that “We need to act fast mate”. And Mr Brough told Ms Doane on learning that, eventually, Mr McClellan would meet Mr Lewis “Everything will be fine”: [94].

196 Having read all of the text messages on Mr Ashby’s mobile phone, as Mr Ashby’s senior counsel invited me to do, as well as the other evidence, I have reached the firm conclusion that Mr Ashby’s predominant purpose for bringing these proceedings was to pursue a political attack against Mr Slipper and not to vindicate any legal claim he may have for which the right to bring proceedings exists. Mr Ashby began planning that attack at least by the beginning of February 2012. As Mr Ashby and Ms Doane agreed in their texts of 30 March 2012 what they were doing “will tip the govt to Mal’s [Brough] and the LNP’s advantage”: [66]. It may be a coincidence that Mr Ashby suggested to Mr Slipper the idea of becoming Speaker just as Mr Brough began to move towards challenging Mr Slipper for LNP pre-selection for his seat and Mr Ashby ended up in an alliance in late March 2012 with Mr Brough to bring down Mr Slipper after he became Speaker….

http://youtu.be/AEWfsUO7YZY

* Photographs found at Google Images

UPDATE:

Justice Rares found that Mal Brough had known in early April 2012 that an application was to be filed by James Hunter Ashby. Court records show that it was filed on Friday 20 April 2012.

This is what Oppostion Leader Tony Abbott told the media on 13-14 December 2012:

'I think that Mal Brough was perfectly and properly endorsed by the Liberal National Party. He's been quite transparent and upfront about his involvement and, as I said, the matter is now subject to appeal,'

NSW farmer challenged $2 billion overspend on poles & wires across the state and Grid Australia threatened to sue

 

The Farmer

 

Introduction

• The electricity industry is in crisis as massive over investment in the grid

has caused unsustainable price rises.

• This presentation will delineate 8 key themes that have shaped the

current crisis in the industry.

1. Price – an international and domestic perspective

2. The industries fanciful forecasts that have lead to massive overbuilding of

infrastructure for a demand that simply does not exist.

3. Gold Plating of the network.

4. A local example of flawed project justification. On a local level the problem

of self serving forecasting is magnified.

5. The industries fatally flawed regulatory framework.

6. Demand Management – a wasted opportunity.

7. The Myth of Peak Demand.

8. The Negative Feedback loop of falling demand.

Finally we will suggest some solutions to ameliorate the crisis.

[Excerpt from Submission to the Senate Enquiry on Electricity Prices, The Electricity Crisis How fanciful forecasts are stifling the Australian Economy. Author: Bruce Robertson – Deputy Chairman, The Manning Alliance]

 

Grid Australia states that External Impacts have been one of the key causes of Electricity price rises. They state:

“External impacts – the higher cost of borrowing after the GFC and the impact of high commodity prices has placed additional financial burdens on the cost of repairing and replacing essential network infrastructure; “

The government owned utilities effectively borrow at the government rate and make massive margins on the regulated return. Mr McIntyre, Chairman of Grid Australia should know this as he is also Managing Director of Transgrid the NSW Government owned Transmission provider. [Excerpt from Submission to the Senate Enquiry on Electricity Prices, Corrections to the Factual inaccuracies and Misleading and Deceptive Submission given by Grid Australia. Author: Bruce Robertson – Deputy Chairman, The Manning Alliance]

 

ABC 702 Radio James Valentine interview with Bruce Robertson:

Too much in investment in poles and wires.

Since 2008-2009 peak demand has actually been falling.

Average bill in a Country Energy NSW regional supply area has risen 154 per cent since 2005.

Government regulation of the industry is dramatically failing.

bruce-robertson-interview.mp3

 

Manning Alliance

 

1.    A STATEMENT FROM THE CHAIRMAN 15 November 2012

Dear Friends,

As you are aware Grid Australia, “the organisation which represents the owners of Australia’s $10 billion electricity transmission networks in the National Electricity Market (NEM), plus Western Australia” recently threatened to instigate litigation against Bruce Robertson for defamation, that is, comments that he made on the ...

ABC 702 program with James Valentine and for references that were made in the Manning Alliance’s submission to the Australian Senate Inquiry into Electricity Prices.

I have previously sent you copies of press clipping and all links.

Today, I am very pleased to announce that the Chairman of Grid Australia, Peter McIntyre (also the Managing Director of Transgrid), has sent an apology to Bruce Robertson wherein he has stated that there will be no legal action against Bruce.

This is wonderful news and a great relief to Bruce and the entire Robertson family and also the entire Manning Alliance Community; and it is a major win for People Power and the Freedom of Speech.

I want to advise you that, tomorrow; I shall, in my capacity as Chairman of the Manning Alliance, call on the NSW Government for an independent inquiry into this debacle. The deliberate bullying, harassment and intimidation of Bruce Robertson is unacceptable and Grid Australia and Mr McIntyre needs to be held to account. We cannot allow innocent civilians who wish to contribute to matters of national or public significance to be gagged and coerced. We live in a world dominated and controlled by mega corporations and multinational companies and this horrific persecution of Bruce Robertson is a clear example that we need to be vigilant and jealously guard our right to the freedom of speech.

I want to thank you all for your contribution, advice and support. All those letters and emails to the politicians and the media have definitely helped.

As I sit back in my comfortable chair, sip on my favourite beverage, and reflect; today has been a very good day! It was a day when might was proven not to be right, and a clear example has been set for us all that we should not be afraid to speak out, to stand up for our rights and not to tolerate nor accept mediocrity. Our lives are too short. The Manning Community has lost an entire year of our lives battling the Transgrid debacle. It is a year we will not recover!

We need to demand and expect high standards of performance from our corporations, from our governments and from all our politicians.

I have attached a copy of the story (below), which appeared online in the Sydney Morning Herald, this afternoon. It has some very interesting information. I have also attached a copy of the letter of apology from Mr McIntyre. I am reliably informed there should be a major article in the Sydney Morning Herald tomorrow morning.

Perhaps at a more convenient time we will be in a position to share with you the background to this entire fiasco, the power plays and the intrigue, but that’s a story for another day!

I want to particularly acknowledge yet again, the support from the Sydney Morning Herald, particularly from Michael West, our Federal Member, Robert Oakeshott, and the NSW MLC, Dr. John Kaye.

I also need to recognise the courage and conviction of Bruce Robertson and the steadfast support and advice that he has received from his wife Belinda and their three children Babbs, Celeste, Archie. They are truly a remarkable family.

Please celebrate this win. It is another win for our entire community! A win that will have national repercussions; that will reverberate throughout the boardrooms of Australia and through the corridors of political power.

The truth really has won out!

Kind Regards,

Peter Epov

[http://www.facebook.com/HighVoltageLinesManningAlliance]

 

The State per email from Grid Australia

 

Dear Mr Robertson,

 

I refer to the letter sent to you by Ashurst on 5 November 2012. I sincerely apologise if this correspondence caused you or your family concern in regard to pending legal action. I have instructed Ashurst that Grid Australia has no intention of taking legal action against you in regard to the matters referred to in that letter. As such, you should not consider yourself subject to any proceedings. Grid Australia is committed to constructive engagement with Government and the community about matters of energy policy. We stand by the information and the submissions made to the Senate Select Committee. In light of our obvious differences, I would appreciate the opportunity for Grid Australia to meet with you and discuss the matters raised in your submission to the Senate Enquiry. I recognise there has been a lot of passion in the debate, but I am hopeful that a more constructive engagement between us will assist in a more informed dialogue on these important issues.

Yours sincerely,

Peter McIntyre
Chairman
Grid Australia

[ http://www.smh.com.au/business/apology-letter-sent-to-bruce-robertson-20121115-29eeg.html#ixzz2CKBgpMWP]

New definition of Clarence Valley Council management gaining currency

Is it any wonder that Clarence Valley Council management is now frequently referred to as a bucket full of ar$eholes and a few other unprintable phrases?

Spot the not so subtle alteration of the history of Clarence Valley shire councillors’ response to residents’ concerns over the sudden removal of part of the Yamba Road Cycleway by council management without prior community consultation.

These concerns directly related to cyclists' safety when using a section of Yamba Road in the vicinity of the Freeburn Street T-intersection and pedestrian safety on the nearby designated 'shared use' footpath which does not meet council's own minimum width requirements as set out in the Pedestrian access and mobility plan (PAMP) and bike plan (2008).

Click on the images below for a larger and clearer view of the text.

Ordinary Monthly Meeting Minutes of 26 June 2012:

Voting recorded as follows:

For: Councillors Williamson, Comben, Dinham, Howe, Hughes, McKenna, Simmons,

Tiley and Toms

Against: Nil
 

Ordinary Monthly Meeting Minutes of 17 July 2012:

Ordinary Monthly Meeting Business Paper of 16 October 2012:

Included in this council officer's report as Background was Item 021/12 Yamba Road Cycelway, Yamba, containing the precise wording as is set out in the minutes below.

Ordinary Monthy Meeting Minutes of 16 October 2012:

Yes, that’s right. By including that last item in the October official business paper and minutes as it is written, council management totally ignored the fact that the June 26 Ordinary Monthly Meeting did not fully endorse the NSW R&MS Clarence Valley Local Traffic Advisory Committee recommendation (which had been heavily influenced by the very same management advising this committee) and, as Clarence Valley Council's 9 October Civil & Corporate Committee Meeting Business Paper contained the very same wording this was not a simple mistake.

It is a distinct possibility that council management did not make the Local Traffic Advisory Committee aware of the fact that its recommendations had not been fully endorsed and that this external committee has an imperfect understanding of the true status of its recommendations.

It is also possible that councillors have been voting since the beginning of October under a manufactured misapprehension concerning council's own past decisions relating to the Yamba Road Cycleway.

Council management obviously believed that newly-elected and re-elected councillors would not easily recall the details of the Yamba Road Cycleway debate and therefore decided to rewrite the record in order to do exactly as it pleased.

At the same time as council management improperly seeks to go against the 26 June 2012 OGM resolution and erect additional signs directing all bicycle traffic onto inadequate footpaths, it is avoiding any meaningful in-depth evaluation of the problem it created on Yamba Road in the first place

Thereby showing nothing but contempt for the democratic process and once again flipping the bird to the Yamba community behind councillors’ backs.

Persistent rumours grow legs in Cansdellgate

 

NSW Parliament Hansard 16 October 2012:

 

The Hon. MICK VEITCH: I direct my question to the Minister for Roads and Ports. Has the Minister received any information, verbal or written, suggesting that the former member for Clarence, Steve Cansdell, may have falsely nominated other drivers to cop the blame for traffic offences committed by him on more than one occasion? If so, did the Minister refer that information to the police? If not, why not?
The Hon. DUNCAN GAY: No and no.

 

NSW Parliament 16 October 2012:

 

The Hon. HELEN WESTWOOD: I direct my question to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services, and Minister for the Hunter. What action is the Minister taking to ensure that a full and proper investigation is undertaken into the handling of the Steve Cansdell matter after the lawyer for the woman who blew the whistle publicly contradicted earlier suggestions that Mr Cansdell had escaped justice because she had refused to be interviewed?

The Hon. MICHAEL GALLACHER: If the member has concerns about the conduct of that investigation and she has reason to believe that something untoward happened, I suggest that she refer the matter to the Ombudsman. I have answered the question fully.

 

NSW Parliament Hansard 17 October 2012:

 

The Hon. LUKE FOLEY: I direct my question to the Minister for Roads and Ports. Has the Minister's office or department received any information of advice that would suggest the former member for Clarence, Mr Steve Cansdell, may have falsely nominated other drivers to shift the blame for traffic offences on more than one occasion?

NSW Police accused of lying about Cansdell case

The Sydney Morning Herald 13 October 2012:

THE lawyer for the woman who blew the whistle on the disgraced former MP Steve Cansdell for falsifying a statutory declaration has accused police of threatening her and then lying about their reasons for not pursuing charges against him.

He is also calling for an independent inquiry into the way police have handled the case.

Mr Cansdell, who was parliamentary secretary for police, resigned from State Parliament in September last year after admitting to signing a false statutory declaration that an aide, Kath Palmer, was driving when he was caught speeding in 2005.

On Wednesday NSW police issued a statement saying they would not pursue charges as the Commonwealth director of public prosecutions said there were not reasonable prospects of a conviction for a federal offence. It noted that Ms Palmer ''declined to be interviewed by officers''.

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But Ms Palmer's solicitor, Mark Spagnolo, said yesterday the statement was ''a lie''. In an email to police on October 19 last year, seen by the Herald, Mr Spagnolo said while Ms Palmer declined to be formally interviewed she would make an ''induced statement'' which would protect her from prosecution.

Mr Spagnolo said this was because the investigator, Detective Peter O'Reilly, had earlier told him police were considering charging Ms Palmer with ''perverting the course of justice'' for her part in the false statutory declaration.

Mr Spagnolo said Detective O'Reilly rejected the offer of an induced statement.

According to a file note made by Mr Spagnolo, Detective O'Reilly said ''he did not have to go down that path as Mr Cansdell was going to, using his words, throw his hands up to the matter and therefore as Kath made it public in the newspapers the police will be investigating charges of her''.

Yesterday Mr Spagnolo said Ms Palmer felt ''completely wronged'' and called for an independent investigation.

''After having the courage to blow the whistle on a member of Parliament who was also a parliamentary secretary for the police, my client was threatened by the police with charges of perverting the course of justice,'' he said. ''She was devastated by the fact that going public to report on a politician who was prepared to swear a false statutory declaration and lie to save his driver's licence led her to face the threat of criminal charges''.

Mr Spagnolo said that ''the message from the police is, put in a politician linked to the police by his office for falsifying documents and we will charge you.''

A police spokesman said Ms Palmer was offered a formal interview under caution ''but this was declined''…..

The Australian Wheat Board scandal continues to play out

After all the lies the Howard Government told, including Tony Abbott…….
BloombergBusinessweek 8th August 2012:
“MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A former managing director of an Australian wheat exporter has been fined 100,000 Australian dollars ($106,000) and banned from being a company director for two years for his role in paying $200 million in kickbacks to Iraq's former dictatorship under the discredited UN oil-for-food program. Andrew Lindberg, former head of the now defunct monopoly wheat exporter AWB Ltd., was sentenced Thursday for breaches of Australian corporate law. It was part of a plea deal with corporate regulator Australian Securities and Investments Commission that ends a case that began in 2007. Justice Ross Robson said Lindberg had failed to act "with the degree of care and diligence a reasonable person would exercise" in his role.”

It's only taken the Australian Securities and Investment Commission three years to dig a hole big enough to bury its head in

It’s only taken the Australian Securities and Investment Commission three years to dig a hole deep enough to bury its head in. The Age must be wondering why it bothered outlaying time and resources on investigative journalism.

The Age 31 October 2009:

BIPARTISANSHIP is rare in Canberra these days, but the Government and Opposition are as one on the scandal-racked Reserve Bank subsidiary Securency: they don't want to know about it. Since May, The Age has exposed a string of allegations about the way the company goes about the business of selling its banknote polymer to other nations, some of which are notoriously corrupt.

The Age 5 March 2012:

FEDERAL police have referred to the corporate watchdog evidence of possible illegality by senior Reserve Bank officials and business figures in connection with the nation's worst bribery scandal.

The referral to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission marks a significant shift in the investigation of the Reserve firms Securency and Note Printing Australia, which allegedly paid millions of dollars in kickbacks to win foreign banknote contracts.

For the first time in three years - and after last year charging 10 former senior banknote executives with paying bribes - authorities are examining the conduct of several Reserve-appointed directors of NPA and Securency between 1998 and 2009.

It is understood federal police have gathered significant documentary evidence and witness statements that point to improper corporate behaviour and have sought legal advice about the material before referring it to ASIC. Those whose conduct is under scrutiny over possible illegality include:

A former deputy governor of the Reserve and former chairman of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, Graeme Thompson, who chaired NPA and Securency and who allegedly approved highly irregular company behaviour that fuelled bribery.

An assistant governor at the Reserve, Frank Campbell, who as NPA director was privy to information about company corruption and bribery in 2007 which he and his board did not refer to the police.

The managing director of NPA, Chris Ogilvy, who also sat on Securency's board and who was party to highly irregular corporate behaviour, including the payment of secret commissions via inflated contracts.

A former Reserve assistant governor, Les Austin, who was a director of Securency and NPA.

If ASIC pursues civil or criminal charges against any of the directors, they could face jail sentences or heavy fines.

Company directors have a legal obligation to act honestly and diligently, and if their recklessness is found to have contributed to bribery or other improper conduct, they can be charged.

ABC News 12 March 2012:

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission says it will not launch an investigation into bribery allegations against two companies linked to the Reserve Bank.

Seven former employees of polymer banknote companies Securency International and Note Printing Australia (NPA), and the companies themselves, have been charged in relation to bribes allegedly paid to foreign officials to win note-printing contracts overseas.

Securency is 50 per cent owned by the RBA, while NPA is wholly owned by the RBA.

ASIC says it looked for evidence of possible breaches of the Corporations Act in material supplied by the Australian Federal Police.

"In line with its normal practice, ASIC has reviewed this material from the AFP for possible directors’ duty breaches of the Corporations Act and has decided not to proceed to a formal investigation," the regulator said in a statement.

Millions of dollars were alleged to have been paid in bribes to officials in Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam between 1999 and 2005 to secure contracts to produce bank notes for those nations.

Steven Rhett Cansdell, retired NSW Nationals MP. The story so far....

In 2003 Nationals candidate Stephen Rhett Cansdell was elected to the NSW Parliament representing the Clarence electorate.

In 2005 he was caught on a Roads & Traffic Authority camera, driving in excess of the speed limit on the Pacific Highway at Woodburn NSW.

He subsequently made a false statement to a NSW Government agency in order to avoid losing his driving license. This false statement was made in a signed statutory declaration presented to that agency.

A part-time member of his electoral staff was allegedly induced to falsely agree that she had been driving the car when it was caught by the speed camera.

In 2007 he was elected to the NSW Parliament for a second time and in March 2011 he was returned as the Member for Clarence for the third time.

In between that time, he reportedly went on to lose his licence in 2009 after he was pulled over for doing 100kmh in an 80kmh zone at Clarenza. [The Daily Examiner,7 October 2011]

In April 2011 Cansdell publicly attacked a Local Court magistrate hearing charges relating to the Yamba riot, calling him pissweak and his decision a total travesty of justice. [North Coast Voices, 15 April 2011 and ABC North Coast NSW,13 April 2011]

On 16 September 2011 Steve Cansdell resigned his seat and, his position as Parliamentary Secretary for Police and Member of the Legislative Assembly Committee on Economic Development.

He left with the full financial benefits accruing to a Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly who had been in that position for eight years, five months and twenty-eight days.

On the morning of the day he announced his retirement, Mr. Cansdell was said to have attended Grafton Police Station and made a formal confession. Sometime later NSW Police commenced an investigation [The Daily Examiner,17 November 2011].

In the print, radio and television mediums Mr. Cansdell publicly admitted his wrongdoing.

He also admitted that he had avoided the driving license penalty because he wanted a "clean slate" in the lead up to the next election. [The Daily Examiner,7 October 2011]

He further admitted that he would probably never have confessed to his crime if a whistle blower hadn't drawn attention to it. [ABC North Coast NSW,22 November 2011]

So on one hand we have a former Member of Parliament who by his own admission broke the law and, as an undiscovered political miscreant twice successfully stood for re-election in part on a law and order platform. In the 2011 election campaign it was reported that Mr Cansdell said people were fed up with a system of law and order which failed to effectively demonstrate to people that actions had consequences. [The Casino Times,10 March 2011]

On the other hand we have an O’Farrell Coalition Government that did not suspend this government member when he confessed to the Deputy-Premier and, a parliamentary political party which did not expel him and continues to publicly support him despite his admitted wrongdoing.

A category of wrongdoing which is included in the Criminal Code and an act which a reasonable person might say brought State Parliament into disrepute.

Then in 2012 we have a NSW Director of Public Prosecutions who decides to ignore the fact that the false statement was made to a state agency in order to gain a benefit and refers the matter to the Commonwealth – because the statutory declaration form used was apparently one created under the C’wealth Statutory Declarations Act 1959 and not the NSW Oaths Act 1909. Mr. Cansdell apparently having elected not to use the form sent out with the NSW Office of State Revenue State Debt Recovery penalty notice. [NSW Attorney General and Minister for Justice in Hansard,7 March 2012 and NSW Office of State Revenue,2012]

According to The Daily Examiner on 7 March 2012; Late Wednesday the NSW Police Media Service released the following statement: "After receiving internal legal advice, the NSW Police Force will tomorrow hand over the brief of evidence in the Cansdell matter to the Commonwealth DPP. The office of the Commonwealth DPP declined to comment.

To be continued...........

Let Steve Cansdell take his lumps in silence

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The Daily Examiner published an opinion piece last Friday suggesting disgraced former Nationals MP for Clarence, Steve Cansdell, should keep a low profile.

Something that is not likely to happen as it seems Cansdell has plans to re-enter politics and is rumoured to have his eye on the federal electorate of Page, which is currently held by Labor's Janelle Saffin.

I suspect that keeping public accolades (like the tribute dinner) coming is not something his lawyers are averse to either as Cansdell faces the possibility of having to answer before the courts for his admitted wrongdoing.

NSW Police, Steve Cansdell and those intriguing "technical legal issues"

The Daily Examiner 25 January 2012:

POLICE have moved a step closer to laying charges against former Clarence MP Steve Cansdell for falsifying a statutory declaration.

Detective senior sergeant Peter O'Reilly, the officer investigating the matter, said he had sent a brief of evidence to the NSW Police Legal Services section who were working through some "technical legal issues".

He said the case was then likely to go to the Department of Public Prosecutions considering Cansdell's "standing in the community"…...

It is over four months since disgraced former Nationals MP Steve Cansdell admitted breaking the law in order to have a “clean slate” in the lead up to the 2006 state election; the Clarence by-election is over and the new Nationals MP for Clarence Chris Gulaptis is safely sworn-in.

Now NSW Police raise the possibility of "technical legal issues" further delaying the day Cansdell faces court.

A term which perhaps hints at overlapping jurisdictions because of a complaint/s to the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption concerning Steve Cansdell's time in Parliament.

One has to hope that these technical legal issues are genuinely the delaying impediment that has been implied, or NSW Police will lose all credibility and be seen as mere puppets of an O’Farrell Government determined to bury Cansdell's actions under a mountain of spin until time past sees the matter fade from memory.

What is it with the American South that it so easily embraces the idea of assassination?

Andrew Adler, owner-publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times in the Friday 13^th January 2012 edition of his newspaper suggesting that Israel consider assassinating President Obama:

“Give the go-ahead for U.S. based Mossad agents to take out a president deemed unfriendly to Israel in order for the current vice president to take his place and forcefully dictate that the United States' policy includes its helping the Jewish state obliterate its enemies.
Yes, you read "three" correctly. Order a hit on a president in order to preserve Israel's existence. Think about it. If I have thought of this Tom Clancy-type scenario, don't you think that this almost unfathomable idea has been discussed in Israel's most inner circles?
Another way of putting "three" in perspective goes something like this: How far would you go to save a nation comprised of seven million lives ... Jews, Christians and Arabs alike?

You have got to believe, like I do, that all options are on the table.”

* Newspaper image from Gawker

Are the Nationals creating a bizarre and corrupt political culture on the NSW North Coast?

Click on invitation to enlarge

In 2011 then NSW Nationals MP for Cowper, Steve Cansdell, was forced to resign when it became public knowledge that he had falsified a statutory declaration in order to avoid having his driver’s licence cancelled.

Subsequently the electorate found out that he was being investigated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption and NSW Police. Both these investigations appear to be on-going.

In the local media this disgraced former state parliamentarian admitted that he would have never confessed to wrongdoing if a former staffer hadn’t blown the whistle.

Despite this, the new NSW MP for Cowper, Chris Gulaptis, embraced Cansdell’s support during the by-election campaign and afterwards – and now I'm reliably informed the Clarence Nationals are to give this admitted lawbreaker a $50-a-head two course tribute dinner next month in the Kensei Bar and the Event Centre at Grafton Racecourse, with RSVPs being handled by Nationals staffer Deb Newton.

The invitation shows that Clarence Nationals are also using the Cansdell name to fund raise for the political party itself.

Which begs the question: When a political party does not appear to recognise an acknowledged criminal act, how long before it condones widespread corrupt activity by its members?

Why all the fuss about an eBay scam? Ask Australia's DoD what a real scam looks like

Is that a gun in your pocket?

The Sydney Morning Herald of 20 December 2011 made me quietly smile when Asher Moses breathlessly told readers that it was an Unhappy Christmas: $1120 for an empty box through eBay with Australian eBay customers lured by ultra-bargain priced TV sets and other electronics have shelled out thousands of dollars only to receive empty boxes in the mail.

Asher may be too young to remember that during the Viet Nam War Australian Defence Force personnel (were confidently rumoured at the time) to have opened carefully packaged boxes, which were supposed to contain an advanced weaponry component - only to find that each and every box merely contained a photocopied schematic of the very expensive item.

The Commonwealth Dept. of Defence, as procurer of these mythical components, was so embarrassed that its gullibility was hidden by creative internal accounting and never saw the light of day.

Now that was a $$$$$$$ scam!

Hey, Ramsey, just post the $60,000 winner's cheque to c/- the Grafton Post Office

The big, colourful racing identity who has problems paying his bills lined up as-quick-as-a-rat-up-a-drainpipe for a TV interview immediately after a nag he part owns crossed the winning line and collected the winner's prize of sixty grand at Moonee Valley today.

And, to make matters worse for viewers who had to put up with the pathetically poor payer's big picture on their TV screens, the interviewer referred to Ramsey with an endearing "Stuey". A bloke at a local pub rang me up immediately after he saw the event and reckoned the interviewer should have called him "Chop, Chop Stew".

Another bloke has this message for the victims of StewedRam:
"To all the long-suffering, under-paid ex-employees and the current employees soon to be sacked by Stuart Ramsay Meatworks, take heart all is well in the stables, his thoroughbred won the second race on Cox Plate Day at Moonee Valley! "

Credit: Image from Racing Channel TVN

Ramsey loses in the courts and kicks Grafton community in the teeth

In an ultimate act of corporate betrayal Ramsey Food Processing Pty Ltd and Stuart Ramsey have decided to close down the South Grafton abattoir he has controlled since 1998, after successive losses in Federal and NSW courts resulted in significant monetary penalties for his group of companies.

Not only will this business closure affect many of the 150 abattoir workers who may not be able to transfer elsewhere (rumour has it that workers may not receive full entitlements on termination), it is bound to have a flow-on effect for the Grafton Sale Yards.

While folding the Grafton business, Stuart Ramsey intends to continue in the meat industry via the 78 year-old  Northern Co-operative Meat Company in Casino - a business which earlier this year was threatening to lay off workers and one which has its own workplace issues.

Ramsey, a Hunter Valley horse breeder and racer who owns Turangga Farm Stud, will of course continue with his million dollar interests elsewhere in 2011:

Karuta Queen is another smart horse bred by Stuart Ramsey in the short time he has had the Turangga stud, Segenhoe Valley, Scone. Another is Headway (by another Arrowfield sire, Charge Forward), winner of the AJC Sweet Embrace Stakes and VRC Ascot Vale Stakes and runner up in the Golden Slipper.Turangga itself plays host to a Golden Slipper second, Ramsey’s foundation sire Zizou, one whose first 2-year-olds are predicted to do well in 2011-12. Also second in the Blue Diamond and accoladed a champion 2-year-old, Zizou is by the Mr. Prospector Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus and from Natural is My Name, a half-sister to Karuta Queen’s sire Not a Single Doubt.

Seven of the yearlings they sold at the Magic Millions sale each realised $100,000 or more with the high being $500,000

Christy Moore - Ordinary Man

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While Ramsey blames the government for his woes, a brief history of the 'Ramsey Group' courtesy of Austlii indicates other reasons are at the root of his problems:

1. Fair Work Ombudsman v Ramsey Food Processing Pty Ltd [2011] FCA 1176 (19 October 2011) (From Federal Court of Australia; 19 October 2011; 165 KB) 
2. Environment Protection Authority v Ramsey Food Processing Pty Ltd [2010] NSWLEC 150 (10 August 2010) (From Land and Environment Court of New South Wales; 10 August 2010; 33 KB)  
3. Environment Protection Authority v Ramsey Food Processing Pty Ltd [2010] NSWLEC 23 (24 February 2010) (From Land and Environment Court of New South Wales; 24 February 2010; 120 KB)  
4. Peter Geoffrey Wright v Ramsey Food Packaging No. 2 Pty Ltd - [2007] AIRC 606 (8 August 2007) (From Australian Industrial Relations Commission; 8 August 2007; 58 KB) 
5. McIlwain v Ramsey Food Packaging Pty Ltd (No. 4) [2006] FCA 1302 (4 October 2006) (From Federal Court of Australia; 4 October 2006; 188 KB)  
6. McIlwain v Ramsey Food Packaging Pty Ltd [2006] FCA 828 (30 June 2006) (From Federal Court of Australia; 30 June 2006; 445 KB)  
7. McIlwain v Ramsey Food Packaging Pty Ltd [2005] FCA 1233 (2 September 2005) (From Federal Court of Australia; 2 September 2005; 156 KB)  
8. Ramsey Butchering Services Pty Ltd v Blackadder [2003] FCAFC 20 (21 February 2003)
   (From Federal Court of Australia - Full Court; 21 February 2003; 138 KB)  
9. Blackadder v Ramsey Butchering Services Pty Ltd (includes corrigendum dated 10 May 2002) [2002] FCA 603 (10 May 2002) (From Federal Court of Australia; 10 May 2002; 80 KB) 

North Coast Voices 19 October 2011: Ramsey ordered to compensate sacked workers
The Daily Examiner 15 October 2011: Ramsey in contempt

UPDATE:

Ramsey to deny redundancy package to some workers.

Ramsey has only himself to blame.