That concludes our live blog on the latest reports from the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Thanks for reading.
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This was published 11 years ago
ICAC: The verdict on Eddie Obeid
ICAC gives its verdict on whether Eddie Obeid corruptly lobbied colleagues and bureaucrats over his business interests at Circular Quay, Direct Health Solutions and his Mount Penny farm.
Kate McClymont and Michaela WhitbournUpdated ,first published
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As Eddie Obeid waxes indignant about "Hollywood-style" ICAC inquiries and the Labor Party prepares to expel Joe Tripodi over corruption findings, let's take a look at the key findings in the latest reports.
Circular Quay
- Eddie Obeid corruptly lobbied former ports ministers Carl Scully, Joe Tripodi, Michael Costa and Eric Roozendaal to favour existing Circular Quay leaseholders without revealing to Scully, Costa and Roozendaal that his family had a secret interest in two cafes on the wharf.
- Tripodi acted corruptly by concealing from cabinet the Obeid family's interest in the leases, which he renewed in 2009 without a competitive tender.
- Former NSW Maritime chief executive Steve Dunn also acted corruptly by scrapping a policy to put Circular Quay leases out to tender, with the aim of benefiting the Obeids.
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Right then. On to the findings about Direct Health Solutions, a company set up to deal with absenteeism in the NSW public sector - for a price, of course.
ICAC found that Eddie Obeid arranged for Labor treasurer Michael Costa to meet company executives in 2005, without revealing his family had an interest in the business.
Obeid insisted during the inquiry that his son Paul did not tell him that the family had a stake in the company but his evidence was rejected.
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SMH Scoop Kate McClymont doesn't like her chances of a tete-a-tete with Eddie Obeid today. His dance card must be full.
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"I've had a political witch hunt against myself and my family for the past three years," Eddie Obeid told ABC radio, in an interview that is now online.
"This is the eighth inquiry."
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One bureaucrat who will be breathing a sigh of relief is Mark Duffy, the former director-general of the Department of Water and Energy.
Mr Duffy, who has close ties to the Labor Party, wanted a bureaucrat sacked after she "wrangled" with one of Obeid's sons about the water licences over Cherrydale Park.
The commission concluded that Duffy "unwittingly fulfilled" Obeid's expectations that his financial interests would be favoured.
"The commission has come to a clear view that Mr Duffy's conduct, though impetuous and unwise in some respects, was not reprehensible, nor was it improper," the commission writes in its report.
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On to the second report, which has two parts. It takes us back to the Obeids' picturesque Bylong Valley farm, Cherrydale Park, which also featured in a previous ICAC inquiry.
The commission describes the rural locale as "by all accounts, a beautiful and somewhat remote rural area in the upper hunter region of NSW".
ICAC found that Eddie Obeid misused his position as a member of parliament in a bid to secure generous water licences over the farm, without revealing that his family had an interest in the licences.
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Before we move on to the second report, involving Direct Health Solutions and water licences over the Obeids' Bylong Valley farm, it's worth lingering on some choice quotes from the commission in the Circular Quay report.
Chapter 6, titled "What Joe knew", deals with the evidence Joe Tripodi gave after his former deputy chief of staff Lynne Ashpole told ICAC that her then boss was aware the Obeids owned or "had an interest in" three lucrative harbourside leases.
He tied himself in knots in the witness box, saying he meant an intellectual interest.
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