Unlawful developer donations scandal getting closer to NSW North Coast Nationals

The Sydney Morning Herald 17 August 2014:

                                             

Mr Cadell [NSW Nationals regional co-ordinator] is also listed as an adviser for the project, to lobby for a coal loader, in the email sent to two executives of Mr Tinkler’s company Buildev – Darren Williams and David Sharpe – on April 20, 2011.

Mr Tinkler had made a $50,000 donation to the federal and NSW Nationals three weeks earlier, Electoral Commission records show.

Echo NetDaily 19 August 2014:

A prominent Tweed businessman gave the National Party a $175,000 loan after the ban on developer donations came into effect in 2009, Sydney media has revealed.

The revelation this morning has sparked calls for the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) to probe developer donations to the National Party on the north coast in the same way the state Liberal Party has been investigated.

The current ICAC investigation into illegal developer donations has led to the resignation or standing aside of up to 10 NSW Liberal MPs and forced Newcastle’s mayor to quit in disgrace.

The National Party, according to a News Corporation report, faces having to repay a $3,000 donation it received for its state election campaign after it emerged that it came from leading Tweed National Party identity Idwall Richards, who is also a Kingscliff developer.

Labor’s shadow minister for the north coast, Walt Secord, said, ‘It appears that prohibited donations aren’t just the sole domain of the NSW Liberal Party, it seems that the north coast Nationals are in the same murky territory’.

The Daily Telegraph report this morning names Mr Richards, owner of Rico Investments, as the businessman who gave the $175,000 loan to the National Party, but both he and the party claimed it was a loan for the federal election campaign and therefore did not come under the donor laws.

Mr Richards, according to the report, said he did not believe he was a developer, but he signed a letter earlier this year as the ‘proprietor’ of Real Living Projects Pty Ltd, which built the Azura development at Kingscliff Beach.

In the letter, Mr Richards says: ‘We had the pleasure of working with the Cullen Group on our luxury multi-residential and commercial development at Azura–Kingscliff Beach’.

Perhaps it also not too late for NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption investigators to direct their attention to North Coast Nationals' 2011 shenanigans.

Joe Hockey either told a political lie to the Australian Parliament and voters then or is doing so now

Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey continues to alter facts to suit the questions being asked or the audience he is addressing and, if that means telling untruths to Parliament and voters then that is what he will do.

THEN

Australian Government Budget 2014-15 Overviews - Health presented to the Australian Parliament on 13 May 2014 by Joe Hockey:

ABC Q&A program on 19 May 2014:

Given that of the $7, $2 goes to the doctor…

NOW

House of Representatives House TV Joe Hockey speaking during Question Time on 26 August 2014:

It is a payment for a service….We are asking Australians to pay $7 when they go and visit a GP. That goes to the GP. The bottom line is it’s a payment for service. [my red bolding]

If the total $7 doesn’t go to the GP then it is not a genuine payment for service – it is a payment with an indirect tax attached.

So does the GP keep the money, Mr. Hockey? Or have you introduced another tax?

Is the Sunburnt Revolution on its way?

Since coming to office in September 2013 the Abbott Government has treated Australia to a level of political contempt that the vast majority of voters have not experienced before in their lifetime.

Individually and collectively Abbott and his colleagues have; strewn the political landscape with broken election promises, uttered misleading statements and downright lies, indulged in episodes of egotistical political posturing, casually displayed racism, sexism and cronyism, been wantonly cruel when setting social and economic policies, constantly attacked the principles of equity and equality, ignored the nation's obligations under United Nations conventions, attempted to further erode separation of church and state, increased public debt with little to show for it, flaunted an intention to grow the divide between the mega-rich, rich & the merely comfortable off to downright poor, entered into an unhealthy relationship with a media empire, shown a chronic inability to accept responsibility for any bad Coalition decision made since the last federal election and, threatened both senators and voters with more oppressive measures if the remainder of the unfair 2014-15 budget is not passed.

Individual voters have muttered, yelled, shrieked, cursed, blogged or tweeted their displeasure by the droves. They have written letters to the editor, sent letters to government, banded together to publish open letters and, marched in their tens of thousands.

In the face of all this antipathy, the Abbott Government has merely increased its ideology-driven destruction for destruction's sake, convinced that all will be well by the time the next election rolls around.

However, I suspect that Abbott’s call for everyone to join his brown shirted, jackbooted Team Australia will turn out to be that step too far and the Prime Minister, his Cabinet, state senators and local MPs are about to discover how practiced the populace is at quietly stubborn subversion and sustained non-violent civil resistance – skills which have been honed down the generations since those early days of the first colony.

If the Sunburnt Revolution becomes a reality, then Liberal and National Party politicians will have nowhere left to hide by the time they are publicly booted off that Canberra hill.

The 73 million reasons why the Abbott Government is intent on crushing public broadcasting in Australia

American media mogul Rupert Murdoch and News Corp made no secret of the fact that they supported the Liberal-National Coalition gaining federal government and backed Tony Abbott's bid for prime ministership in the September 2013 Australian federal election.

This support was enthusiastically and sometimes crudely expressed:

www.reddit.com

In his turn Tony Abbott has kept his close links with News Corp since he became prime minister: for example attempting to change the racial discrimination act after a News Corp journalist was found to have breached this act; briefing Rupert Murdoch personally before informing his cabinet of a major policy initiative; attending The Daily Telegraph post-budget party; and  informing The Daily Telegraph before his parliamentary colleagues of changes to data retention policy.

In the Abbott Government's first budget this 'alliance' with Rupert Murdoch continued – funding cuts and loss of a media platform befell public broadcasting which co-incidentally happens to be a major player on the Australian media scene:

The full extent of the ABC threat to News Corp isn't clear until you closely examine their competing activities.

First there's television, and the years-long saga of the ABC's Asia Pacific service, a national vanity project costing tens of millions a year, which the Howard government begged Jonathan Shier to take on in 2001. After the ABC began producing a reasonable, if low-cost, service, News coveted it for Sky News (of which News Corp has an interest via its holding in one-third owner BSkyB) to improve its international clout at taxpayer expense and tried twice, in 2005 and 2010, to win it, getting knocked back both times, although for very different reasons the second time around.

Then there's ABC News 24, a direct rival to Sky News itself and to News Corp's half-owned Foxtel, which carries Sky News. News 24 reaches about 14% of metropolitan audiences a week, far ahead of Sky News.

And free-to-air: Lachlan Murdoch's Ten Network has been regularly losing its third spot in the evening television ratings to the ABC. The ABC pointed out yesterday that it had lifted its prime-time share to a 14.6 share, up 1 percentage point from 2012 and the best performance of any free-to-air network this year. Ten's share fell and in fact spent all of 2013 behind the ABC, consigning it to fourth in metro markets, while its regional performance was even worse. ABC management has simply outclassed Lachlan's conga line of executives. The former head of ABC TV, Kim Dalton, was behind the suite of programs that enabled the ABC to have programs that viewers wanted to watch when Ten imploded in August of 2012, and continued to slide this year. Lachlan Murdoch has removed two CEOs and is now on his third in three years. Ten's problems are as much his problems as those of the poor decision making by former management.

Lachlan Murdoch also slashed and burnt the previous Ten management's carefully developed news and current affairs presence, at a time when the ABC was strengthening its position as the most trusted source of news for Australians across radio and television, far ahead of commercial broadcasters and newspapers — with News Corp's increasingly biased mastheads bringing up the rear as Australia's least-trusted newspapers.

"Plainly there are good leaks involving government secrets, which embarrass the ALP, and bad leaks, which make life difficult for the Coalition."

The ABC's online iView service is also a threat. It's now the most popular TV replay source online, and it competes directly, and for free, with Foxtel.

ABC Radio also competes directly with Lachlan's DMG radio stations in each state capital; Nova FM only beats the ABC's metropolitan local stations in Brisbane and Perth. And ABC Radio is planning a development that will not be greeted warmly by News or Ten or DMG Australia. Fairfax won't be happy either. In an email to staff two weeks ago, ABC Radio head Kate Dundas revealed that, among a long list of changes and new ideas, were state-based online news editions planned for 2014, a new e-mag for Radio National, a huge revamp of the Triple J Dig multiplatform, and a second online music stream for Classic FM.

Probably the most important will be the first version of the ABC audio player — the audio equivalent of iView. Podcasts for programs such as Conversations (which attracts hundreds of thousands of listeners a month) and RN programs will move to this new player site. ABC Radio Multiplatform also has a lot planned for 2014, with mobile versions of key sites like ABC Rural, Dig Music and ABC Local news sites.

The suspicion arises that Tony Abbott will increase pressure on the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) whilst he has the power to do so. 

Given that on 20 August 2014 Crikey.com.au revealed a further motive for this pressure - the parlous state of News Corp in Australia:

Combined with the sharp earnings drop already reported in 2013-14, and with circulation and advertising revenues continuing to decline, the accounts suggest News Corp's Australian newspapers, including the national, metro and regional publications, will struggle to break even this financial year.

The confidential operating accounts for News Corp Australia have never been seen by investors and provide a detailed picture of a print business in rapid decline, with swingeing cost-cuts, cover price increases, new digital subscriptions and digital advertising failing to make up for the loss of revenues from advertising and circulation……

The accounts were produced last year just as Murdoch spun off his troubled print media assets worldwide from the profitable Fox film and cable television empire in the United States, in the wake of the UK phone-hacking scandal.

News Corp was spun out on June 28, 2013, from the renamed 21st Century Fox, and houses mastheads including The Wall Street Journal and New York Post in the US, the Times and Sun in the UK, News' Australian newspapers, plus book publisher Harper Collins, Foxtel and Fox Sports in Australia, and a 62% stake in ASX-listed REA Group, which operates the successful realestate.com.au website

Listed on the NASDAQ and the ASX, News Corporation, valued at $11 billion, goes to considerable lengths to avoid breaking revenue or earnings down by country or masthead, lumping its worldwide newspaper operations plus other businesses together into the "news and information" segment, which accounts for 71% of the group's total revenue, and only offering finer detail selectively.

Crikey can reveal that, amid a forest of negative brackets, revenue from News Corp's Australian newspapers fell 14% to $1.9 billion in 2012-13, with circulation revenue dropping 5% and advertising revenue falling 18%, while operating income fell 67% to $94 million.

Within the division, The Australian stands out as the worst performer: revenues dropped 20% from $135 million to 108 million in 2012-13, while operating income fell 41% from a loss of $19 million to a loss of $27 million. After depreciation, the masthead's operating loss fell to $30 million.

The profit drop in newspapers was only partly offset by growth in other operations like REA Group and Fox Sports, with total operating income falling 38% to $221 million. After income from investments including Foxtel, the group recorded a total profit before interest or tax of $367 million, down 28%.....

the heavy falls in print have continued if not accelerated through 2013-14. This is confirmed in News Corp's most recent quarterly earnings update and annual report, showing the Australian newspapers are dragging on recovering newspaper operations in the US and UK, as well as divisions reporting profit growth, such as book publishing.

News reported that earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation from Australian newspapers fell by US $67 million in 2013-14, or $73 million — which by Crikey's estimate represents roughly an 80% fall on the previous year, nearly wiping out the division's entire operating income. The division dragged heavily on the news and information segment, which reported a 16% drop in EBITDA in 2013-14.

The operating accounts show Melbourne's Herald Sun was the mainstay of News Corp in Australia, with the weekday paper generating revenues of $250 million in 2012-13, down 13.5% on the year before, and operating income of $35 million, down 41%. Revenue for the Sunday edition fell 17% to $75 million, while operating income fell 31% to $21 million.

Of the major tabloids the weekday edition of News' monopoly masthead in Brisbane, The Courier-Mail, suffered the steepest falls, with revenue dropping 18% to $158 million while operating income fell 68% to just $17 million. The Sunday Mail revenues fell 15% to $71 million and operating income fell 33% to $20 million.

The weekday edition of Sydney's Daily Telegraph was another weak performer, with the lowest profit margins at 5%, with revenue dropping 14% to $160 million while operating income fell 65% to just $8 million. The Sunday Telegraph revenues fell 15% to $94 million and operating income fell 53% to $7 million.

At that level Adelaide's Advertiser's weekday editions alone made a much stronger contribution than the Tele in 2012-13, generating revenues of $138 million (down 15%) and operating income of $22 million (down 47%) — without counting the Sunday Mail.

The financial performance of the newspapers has only worsened. In its latest accounts News Corp revealed that overall revenue from the Australian newspapers had fallen by another 18% or US $359 million in 2013-14, compared with the previous year, made up of US $314 million decline in advertising revenue and a US $45 million decline in circulation revenue. Of that, News said US $199 million — a bit over half — reflected the impact of a weaker Australian dollar versus the greenback, which pointed to an 8% decline in revenue in local currency to below $1.8 billion. [my red bolding]

Crikey.com.au 21 August 2014:

Adding the two divisions, to make the comparison easier, circulation revenue at Fairfax grew 13% to $327 million in 2012-13, and another 1% to $331 million in 2013-14. Ad revenue fell 18% in 2012-13 to $1,022 million, and another 15% to $869 million the year after. Total revenue fell 11% to $1,507 million in 2012-13, and another 12 % to $1,333 million in 2013-14. There was a moderate improvement in profitability, however, with EBITDA rising 3% to $269 million in 2012-13 and 1% to $273 million in 2013-14.

In 2012-13, Fairfax's Metro Media division recorded a 17% increase in circulation revenue to $222 million. Advertising revenue fell 21% to $634 million. Total revenue fell 12% to $996 million. In the Regional Media division, circulation revenue fell 4% to $98 million, ad revenue fell 13% to $388 million, and total revenue fell 10% to $511 million. EBITDA at the Metros fell 26% to $76 million and in Regional it fell 16% to $133 million.

In 2013-14, ignoring the restructure of Regional Media into Australian Community Media, the corresponding figures were as follows: Metro Media circulation revenue grew 9% to $228 million while ad revenue fell 14% to $460 million and total revenue fell 9% to $803 million; Community Media circulation revenue fell 7% to $103 million while ad revenue fell 16% to $409 million and total revenue fell 15% to $530 million. On the EBITDA line, the Metros reported a 41% increase to $121 million while Community Media fell 17% to $152 million.

In terms of percentage growth and/or declines, from year to year, the comparison shows Fairfax outperforming the News Corp papers on most measures, counting both revenues and earnings. [my red bolding]

Financial Review 22 August 2014:

The Blue Book showed the average cost of employees at The Australian’s print operations was $178,256. That included associated costs and actual salary, but that still seemed higher than most of the ABC journalists the paper had slammed as overpaid. By comparison, the average cost of employees for the Daily Telegraph was $141,214. The toilers at the Herald Sun made do with $131,944, $125,135 for The Courier Mail, and $90,990 for smaller titles like The Geelong Advertiser. [my red bolding]

Information overload

I have a friend who has recently signed up to an online dating service, he has not paid up his money so he cannot contact the ladies on the web site that have shown an interest in him.

 He can look at the limited data that is on the open source part of the site. He has been inundated with profiles and messages. It has been great for his ego but truthfully it has overwhelmed him as well.

Every time I see him he updates me on the number and profiles, 367 to date, but is frighten to pay up and engage.

Part of his fear is that these are not genuine responses and the other is that they are.

He is overwhelmed by choice.

What I found was amazing was that one of the first questions was on what star sign you are, it seems that my answer, on the cusp of sceptic and sarcasm would not be accepted.

Dating sites are not designed by cynics it seems.

This brings me to what I’m really interested in: there is so much information floating around much of it of dubious quality, so how do you decide what to place a value on and what to dismiss?

We, as a society seem to be suffering from rabbit in the head light syndrome: unable to see what would be in our best interests (get out of the light). So we continue to run within the light of the car, and thereby run harder towards our demise. 

NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) OPERATION SPICER witness list for week commencing 25 August 2014 - cheat sheet (updated)

NSW ICAC OPERATION SPICER witness list for week commencing 25 August 2014

Monday 25 August 2014

Ann Wills - director at Wills Communications, former staffer for then Minister for Defence Personnel Greg Combet, former staffer for then NSW Treasurer & Minister for the Hunter Michael Costa, did work for Buildev and took part in the Stop Jodi's Trucks pamphlet campaign

David Sharpe - former co-owner and executive at BuildDev property developer

Tuesday 26 August 2014

John Hart - chairman of the North Sydney Forum, a fund-raising entity attached to the Liberal Party federal electoral conference in Australian Treasurer Hockey's seat of North Sydney and, CEO of Restaurant and Catering Australia, the national lobby group for the hospitality industry Removed from witness list for second week in a row

David Sharpe - former co-owner and executive at BuildDev property developer

Warwick Watkins – former CEO of NSW Land and Property Management Authority and current director of consultancy business WW & Associates Pty Ltd Removed from witness list this week

Wednesday 27 August 2014

Darren Williams - development manager at the Buildev Group and a sponsor of the Sydney-based Liberal Party associated entity The Millennium Forum in 2008

Ross Cadell - NSW Nationals regional co-ordinator, director at R & S Cadell Pty Ltd, manages the trading arm of family businesses including Tiny Tutus Pty Ltd, Tutu Central and P1 Race Engineering  Removed from witness list this week

Thursday 28 August 2014

Darren Williams - development manager at the Buildev Group and a sponsor of the Sydney-based Liberal Party associated entity The Millennium Forum in 2008

The following removed from this  week's witness list:

Eric Roozendaal – former NSW Labor MLC for and NSW Treasurer, suspended from the Labor Party in 2012 during an ICAC investigation into an inducement he accepted, resigned from Parliament in 2013, now working for Chinese development company
Ian McNamara - chief of staff to Opposition Leader John Robertson, stood aside while Operation Spicer continues

Kristina Keneally - former Labor MP for Heffron and former NSW Premier

Craig Baumann – NSW Liberal MP for Port Stephens

Friday 29 August 2014

Darren Williams - development manager at the Buildev Group and a sponsor of the Sydney-based Liberal Party associated entity The Millennium Forum in 2008
David Simmons - former Federal Labor MP for Calare, current director of David Simmons Corporate Communications which lists the Buildev Group as a client
Nathan Tinkler - part-owner of Buildev Pty Limited, former Patinack Farm horse stud owner and mining magnate
Tony Kelly - former NSW Labor MLC, former Minister for Lands and later Shadow Minister for Resources and Primary Production, he resigned from parliament after an ICAC investigation found that he had acted corruptly when Minister for Lands
Joe Tripodi - former NSW Labor MP for Fairfield and Minister for Ports and Waterways, in 2010 announced that he would not stand at the 2011 state election after corruption allegations made in ICAC Operation Cyrus hearings concerning his actions as minister
The following removed from this  week's witness list:

Garry Edwards - NSW Liberal MP for Swansea, moved to the cross bench after allegations during evidence given in an Operation Spicer hearing, that he had received an unlawful political donation 

Mark Regent – Buildev project manager on the Redbank North Richmond Joint Venture regional housing project

Bart Bassett - NSW Liberal MP for Londonderry

Coal seam gas industry's peak body APPEA refuses to reveal to Baird Government how much gas it estimates members will to be able to deliver to the domestic market in NSW

The NSW Parliament’s General Purpose Standing Committee No. 5 on 20 August 2014 has revealed that the Baird Government has no idea if supporting the coal seam gas industry in this state will actually produce affordable gas for the domestic wholesale/retail market.

In response to a question from the Hon. Rick Colless: I am sure you are aware of the Gladstone LNG terminal development. What impact will that development have on gas prices for New South Wales customers?

The NSW Minister for Resources and Energy Anthony Roberts answered in part:

The development of Gladstone will fundamentally change the east coast gas market. All the gas that we had previously available to us in New South Wales will now also be available for export.

It has been predicted that prices could as much triple once the export hub is fully operational…..

However, it is regrettable that the east coast gas market is also faced by issues of transparency. I am not aware of any public policymaker in Australia who has a detailed understanding of how much gas is being contracted to overseas customers. I am not aware of any public policymaker that knows whether the east coast gas market has the ability to deliver this without causing domestic shortfalls. I am not aware of any public policymaker that knows what penalty provisions apply should the exporters fail to deliver on their promises.

It concerns me greatly that the parties to these joint ventures may have overcommitted themselves believing domestic supply may have come on faster than it has and in greater quantities. Frankly, I find this a completely unacceptable situation. …..

as I have stated many times before, if you cannot measure you cannot manage. We cannot continue to tolerate a situation where Australian policymakers are being, quite frankly, left in the dark.

I understand that individual players in the industry may have commercial-in-confidence arrangements that they do not wish to be made public. However, I have repeatedly asked the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association to work to aggregate this information so that it can be presented to government and the public. To my great disappointment, they have continually refused to do so. For this industry to gain a social licence in New South Wales it is vital for it to be transparent and to demonstrate how the development of this industry will benefit the State of New South Wales.

I feel this sentiment was captured well by the Premier of Western Australia, Colin Barnett, who, reflecting upon the gas situation on the east coast, stated:

It's a hard narrative to sell to the community, to a government that we are going to increase production of gas and we

are going to export and, in the meantime, domestic supplies might be diminished and domestic prices will go up.

Further to that he stated:

I am a politician and I am pretty good at selling a story but I would find that a tough one to sell.

Instead of enthusiastically supporting this industry it might be wise for the NSW Government to adopt a precautionary approach and assume that if the gas industry refuses to share information then the likely cause is that it is attempting to conceal the fact that it has been consistently telling untruths to governments ministers, departmental heads, members of parliament and local government councillors for many years.

Even Metgasco Limited, which tries to make much of its alleged plan to supply gas to local businesses in the Casino district of northern NSW, cannot disguise the fact that high on its wish list is enough money to finance the Lions Way Pipeline (LWP) which would send gas from any future wells up to the export hubs in Queensland and not into other parts of New South Wales:

Metgasco’s independently assessed 2P and 3P reserves well exceed local (Northern Rivers) gas demand.   As such it plans to supply gas to the eastern Australian and international gas market.   We have considered a number of different alternatives to supply its gas to these markets.   At present the most attractive and preferred option is to build a pipeline from the Casino / Kyogle area to tie in to the existing Roma –Brisbane pipeline in Queensland.

The majority of the work required for an environmental approval has been completed on both sides of the NSW / Queensland border.  The main outstanding work is the cultural heritage studies.  When project planning commenced, it was envisaged that this project would be assessed under the NSW Part 3A process.  Metgasco has agreed with the NSW government to transition the project to the new SSD process, with approval work already completed under Part 3A able to be used in SSD.

The pipeline is approximately 150 km in length and is expected to have diameter of 450mm.  It will be buried for its entire length, typically to depths of 900mm - 1,500mm.  It is estimated to cost in the order of $145 million....

Metgasco will recommence activity on the LWP when it decides to restart other field activities in the Clarence Moreton Basin.

The Sydney Morning Herald 28 September 2010:

NEW South Wales-based gas company Metgasco will assess an ambitious bid to partner with LNG Ltd and transport its coal seam gas more than 500 kilometres to Gladstone where LNG Ltd is planning to construct a liquefied natural gas plant for export.

The companies have signed a memorandum of understanding and will jointly fund a feasibility study into the plan. Under the plan, gas from Metgasco's Clarence Moreton Basin in northern NSW would be piped to Fisherman's Landing in Gladstone. The possibility of developing the LNG plant in the Port of Brisbane is also being considered.

Metgasco says if the project is judged to be economic the company could select a preferred LNG option next year. One of those options is a floating LNG platform. Metgasco says it has also signed a separate memorandum of understanding with Norwegian-listed FLEX LNG to evaluate building the project offshore. Metgasco's 2239 petajoules of proved, probable and possible gas reserves are located on the coast, unlike many other coal seam gas projects, making the option a consideration. It says its resources could supply an LNG plant up to 3 million tonnes a year of gas over 20 years.

Metgasco managing director David Johnson said the company was well advanced in developing the Lions Way gas pipeline, which will transport gas from northern NSW to south-east Queensland.