[Greens-Media] Without transparency O’Farrell set to continue Obeid and Macdonald corruption legacy

[John Kaye]

Without transparency O’Farrell set to continue Obeid and Macdonald corruption legacy

Unless big mining and other developers are brought to heel the culture of the corruption will be hardly dinted by today's ICAC findings and any subsequent court actions, according to Greens NSW MP John Kaye.

Dr Kaye said: "Today's ICAC report is a tale of state government ministers and their get-rich-quick mates made arrogant by the protections of privacy and the lure of personal wealth.

This corruption was made possible because the laws in NSW continue to allow senior government officials to have secret meetings with industry and lobbyists.

"Throughout the sorry history of NSW government, it has been those private meetings where the deals are made that have robbed the public for the benefit a select well connected few.

"ICAC recommended in 2010 that all meetings between third parties, ministers and senior public servants be minuted and placed on the public record.

"The ability of previous ministers like Ian Macdonald to conduct their business without fear of public scrutiny incubated a culture of corruption.

"Without substantial reform to government decision making processes we will be back here again in half a decade dealing with yet another sorry saga of influence peddling and personal enrichment.

"Premier Barry O'Farrell has wasted two years failing to implement reforms that open up decision making and ensure another Mt Penny deal never occurs.

"Within a year of being elected Mr O'Farrell sowed the seeds of another influence-peddling scandal with his secretive, behind-closed-doors Unsolicited Proposals Process.

"It is up to the Labor party to draw its own lessons from ICAC's reports and it is up to the voters to judge whether they have genuinely changed.

"However as long as industries like mining, alcohol and gambling continue to exert extraordinary influence over the major political parties and they can do so behind closed doors, NSW will never be able to rid itself of corruption.

"The Crime Commission can go the Supreme Court today and ask for the relevant assets held by Mr Obeid and Mr Macdonald to be seized. We urge them to do so to rescue at least some of the hundreds of millions of dollars that state lost to corruption.

"The Mt Penny coal mine is now officially mired in corruption. Approval should be withdrawn and the development abandoned.

"The Greens will introduce laws to empower the NSW government to cancel corruptly obtained approvals at no cost to the taxpayers.

"ICAC pointed to the dual role of the Department of Primary Industry in both regulating approvals and advocating for the development of coal resources in NSW.

"All officials involved in the approval process for mining must be completely separated from those promoting the industry.
"NSW will take decades to recover from the impacts of Macdonald, Obeid and their mates.

"The best the O'Farrell government can do is wipe out the stain that Labor left on this state and start work on limiting the influence of big mining, developers, alcohol, gambling and others who would use their powers to get rich quickly at the community's expense," said Dr Kaye.

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455



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John Kaye
Greens NSW MP

P: (02) 9230 2668 | F: facebook.com/john.kaye.mlc<http://www.facebook.com/john.kaye.mlc> | T: @johnkgreens<twitter.com/johnkgreens> | W: www.johnkaye.org.au<http://www.johnkaye.org.au>
Mail: Parliament House, Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW 2000

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