State and Territory politics
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Inside Shoulder
Nathan Sharpe (72)
It surprised me that Baird was elected premier given this
"Mr Baird and then finance minister Greg Pearce signed off on the appointment of Mr Di Girolamo to a three-year $100,000 directorship of State Water Corporation."
BOF may have a few more loose ends given today's SMH
Edit: link to the story - http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/job-offer-after-wine-gift-20140418-36wg1.html
"Mr Baird and then finance minister Greg Pearce signed off on the appointment of Mr Di Girolamo to a three-year $100,000 directorship of State Water Corporation."
BOF may have a few more loose ends given today's SMH
Edit: link to the story - http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/job-offer-after-wine-gift-20140418-36wg1.html
Weren't there some anomalies involving Mr Pearce signing off on an appointment of someone from Sydney Uni that was his wife's boss?
IIRC BO'F forced Pearce to resign over that.
Political cronyism. The gift that keeps on giving.
IIRC BO'F forced Pearce to resign over that.
Political cronyism. The gift that keeps on giving.
Inside Shoulder
Nathan Sharpe (72)
Yep.
But I don't see how Baird isn't tainted by having offered Di Girolamo the Sydney Water job.
Maybe there is no one who is untainted.
I like to watch
David Codey (61)
I think you are on the money IS.
By the time any politician reaches a position of power, they are all tainted. and award positions/contracts based on relationships/debts accrued, rather than on merit.
This is valid for both major parties IMO
boyo
Mark Ella (57)
Good question.
Why don't we have a federal ICAC?
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/why-dont-we-have-a-federal-icac-20140418-zqsrd.html
Why don't we have a federal ICAC?
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/why-dont-we-have-a-federal-icac-20140418-zqsrd.html
boyo
Mark Ella (57)
''Mr O'Farrell froze wages for nurses, teachers and paramedics behind inflation, slashed workers' compensation benefits and retrenched 15,000 public-sector workers,'
Barry O'Farrell's exit comes with a $160,000 a year price tag
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/barry-ofarrells-exit-comes-with-a-160000-a-year-price-tag-20140421-370he.html#ixzz2zZbckkAo
Barry O'Farrell's exit comes with a $160,000 a year price tag
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/barry-ofarrells-exit-comes-with-a-160000-a-year-price-tag-20140421-370he.html#ixzz2zZbckkAo
Gnostic
Mark Ella (57)
As I stated in an earlier post Police and other working level people who have been called before other Inquiries of similar nature were dismissed for similar moments of forgetfulness to that suffered by BOF. Many didn't get to keep their super or entitlements, even when not charged criminally.
BOF (and every other politician in Oz) shouldn't eligible for his "pension" until 70 either, that would cut public costs significantly.
Gnostic
Mark Ella (57)
The Public Service Board proposed by Ted Mack (I posted the link on the federal election thread) would cover this and take out the nepotism of Public Service appointments.
boyo
Mark Ella (57)
Better public transport makes for a smarter Sydney
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/better-public-transport-makes-for-a-smarter-sydney-20140422-zqxsi.html#ixzz2zfCvyQ6B
"The economic forces stoking demand for Sydney’s knowledge-intensive firms have been at work across the globe. In his recent book, The New Geography of Jobs, economist Enrico Moretti showed that over the past three decades, the economic success of American cities has been increasingly defined by the number of highly educated workers. Cities that lack the dynamic knowledge industries which attract well-educated workers are losing ground.
Moretti also discovered that knowledge workers, such as scientists and software engineers, create a lot of extra employment. He analysed data on 9 million workers across 320 urban areas in the US and found each new “innovation job” in a city created five additional jobs. That extra employment didn’t just accrue to professionals, but also to non-professionals, such as waiters, hairdressers, baristas and personal trainers. Moretti concluded the best way for a city to generate jobs, is to attract and nurture innovative companies which hire highly educated workers."
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/better-public-transport-makes-for-a-smarter-sydney-20140422-zqxsi.html#ixzz2zfCvyQ6B
"The economic forces stoking demand for Sydney’s knowledge-intensive firms have been at work across the globe. In his recent book, The New Geography of Jobs, economist Enrico Moretti showed that over the past three decades, the economic success of American cities has been increasingly defined by the number of highly educated workers. Cities that lack the dynamic knowledge industries which attract well-educated workers are losing ground.
Moretti also discovered that knowledge workers, such as scientists and software engineers, create a lot of extra employment. He analysed data on 9 million workers across 320 urban areas in the US and found each new “innovation job” in a city created five additional jobs. That extra employment didn’t just accrue to professionals, but also to non-professionals, such as waiters, hairdressers, baristas and personal trainers. Moretti concluded the best way for a city to generate jobs, is to attract and nurture innovative companies which hire highly educated workers."
Sometimes planning ahead isn't the best plan.
boyo
Mark Ella (57)
What's happening in the NT?
Clive Palmer aims for NT balance of power
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/clive-palmer-aims-for-nt-balance-of-power-20140427-zr09j.html#ixzz303ByP2cu
Clive Palmer aims for NT balance of power
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/clive-palmer-aims-for-nt-balance-of-power-20140427-zr09j.html#ixzz303ByP2cu
Ruggo
Mark Ella (57)
First I heard of this was on insiders this morning. What a joke. The three rogue MLA's are bloody pathetic despite the party they abandoned also being pathetic. Allison Anderson (Tony Abbotts authentic aboriginal) has left both the ALP and CLP now. There have been serious questions over her roles within ATSIC before it was dismantled and many TO Elders think she is an unrepresentative grub using ethnic lines for self advancement. The second, Larisa Lee has only been an MLA for less than a full term and has been included in a scandel involving $17000 on the government fuel card and rorting her employers vehicle and other resources in her campaign to be elected. She is currently up on charges for assulting an 18 year old in the main street of Katherine. Jail time is a serious prospect for her under NT law. The third is a TO Elder from the Tiwi Islands who was elected on a platform to reinstate full strength beer sales on the Islands despite objections from other Elders. His biggest crime is being dumb enough to be led astray by the other two. Of the three, he is the most likely to have a shred of ethics.
This wont end well for Palmer and after the nightmare of the bush vote flirting with the CLP, they are likely to flock back towards the ALP at the next election. The ALP opposition is offering a strong opposition and a mature alternative to government. They have a platform of previous success to campaign on also.
Ruggo
Mark Ella (57)
boyo
Mark Ella (57)
PUP tipped to have colossal impact on Queensland politics
Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/pup-tipped-to-have-colossal-impact-on-queensland-politics-20140429-37g49.html#ixzz30KimrukX
Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/pup-tipped-to-have-colossal-impact-on-queensland-politics-20140429-37g49.html#ixzz30KimrukX
boyo
Mark Ella (57)
LETTERS
What is it about the air on the central coast ("A watchdog? Tinkler gets a crash course in real time, April 29)? The electorate rid itself some time ago of embarrassing Labor members, only to replace them with Liberal members who appear to be equally embarrassing. Those of us who quite successfully tried for years to stop questionable land rezonings in the area under Labor were very disappointed when the new state Liberal government approved them as soon as it came to power. The ICAC might yet reveal why. In the meantime, Mother Nature appears to be protesting by setting fire to an old coal mine next to the development site, which nobody has yet been able to extinguish, placing the land release in jeopardy. The smoke and smell in the area certainly reflect that something stinks.
David Sayers Gwandalan
Kate McClymont wrote of Arthur Sinodinos’ testimony before the ICAC that the senator was ‘‘unaware Australian Water Holdings had donated $72,000 to the Liberal Party while he was on the board of AWH and at the same time party treasurer’’ (‘‘ICAC hearing: Arthur Sinodinos too busy to notice AWH crisis’’, April 4).
Now the ICAC has heard allegations that a ‘‘'substantial part' of $700,000 donated to the NSW Liberals by the Free Enterprise Foundation before the 2011 election was from illegal donors’’ (’’Question becomes a chorus of concern’’, April 29).
You’d expect the first person the police would like to speak to on this matter would be the honorary treasurer of the NSW Liberal Party before the election. Guess who?
James McArdle Sanctuary Point
Finally a developer in NSW that most of the community welcomes with open arms. Geoffrey Watson, SC, seems to produce some very impressive developments out of the dirt that he digs.
Jeremy Simmonds Warriewood
So the Premier has requested NSW Liberal directorTony Nutt deal appropriately with the money donated to the party contrary to the law. The Premier should direct Mr Nutt to pay these ill-gotten proceeds of crime into consolidated revenue. Returning the money to the donors would be farcical.
John Anderson Berowra
For those who fret thatthe ICAC is a star chamber, ponder whether any of the blatant and rampant corruption so far forensically revealed would have been so comprehensively exposed by our clunking, expensive, slanted to the well-heeled, adversarial justice system. As Anatole France cynically observed: our impartial laws, punishing rich and poor alike, for stealing bread and sleeping under bridges.
Adrien Whiddett Yarralumla (ACT)
What is the difference between a corrupt Labor politician and a corrupt Liberal politician? Nothing. Hypocrisy and lies are rife in both camps.
Is this the tip of the iceberg that drove Barry O’Farrell to leave the top job so quickly?
Norman Arnott Forestville
Coming from Wollongong, I have some first-hand experience of such things. When a local government is found to be – or strongly suspected of being – corrupt, it is dismissed and an administrator appointed. Given the level and extent of corruption in NSW politics, it is time to exercise this option. The corrupt and fetid behaviour of our pollies is beyond belief and the governor must step up and dismiss the entire Parliament and appoint an honest and trustworthy administrator. As there is an election due next year, a four- or five-year period should be enough and fit neatly into the electoral cycle.
Ron Wessel Mount St Thomas
Will this ICAC or the next investigate the deals behind the building of the monstrous casino at Barangaroo?
Rick Johnston Tamworth
It is as equally hard to find an honest politician in NSW as it is to find a black box in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Why do we even try? And how much of our moneydo we spend doing it?
Caroline Lewis Elanora Heights
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-letters/dodgy-dealings-a-pox-on-both-parties-20140429-zr1ao.html#ixzz30KszxY1b
"Is this the tip of the iceberg that drove Barry O'Farrell to leave the top job so quickly?" Photo: Britta Campion
David Sayers Gwandalan
Kate McClymont wrote of Arthur Sinodinos’ testimony before the ICAC that the senator was ‘‘unaware Australian Water Holdings had donated $72,000 to the Liberal Party while he was on the board of AWH and at the same time party treasurer’’ (‘‘ICAC hearing: Arthur Sinodinos too busy to notice AWH crisis’’, April 4).
Illustration: John Shakespeare
You’d expect the first person the police would like to speak to on this matter would be the honorary treasurer of the NSW Liberal Party before the election. Guess who?
James McArdle Sanctuary Point
Finally a developer in NSW that most of the community welcomes with open arms. Geoffrey Watson, SC, seems to produce some very impressive developments out of the dirt that he digs.
Jeremy Simmonds Warriewood
So the Premier has requested NSW Liberal directorTony Nutt deal appropriately with the money donated to the party contrary to the law. The Premier should direct Mr Nutt to pay these ill-gotten proceeds of crime into consolidated revenue. Returning the money to the donors would be farcical.
John Anderson Berowra
For those who fret thatthe ICAC is a star chamber, ponder whether any of the blatant and rampant corruption so far forensically revealed would have been so comprehensively exposed by our clunking, expensive, slanted to the well-heeled, adversarial justice system. As Anatole France cynically observed: our impartial laws, punishing rich and poor alike, for stealing bread and sleeping under bridges.
Adrien Whiddett Yarralumla (ACT)
What is the difference between a corrupt Labor politician and a corrupt Liberal politician? Nothing. Hypocrisy and lies are rife in both camps.
Is this the tip of the iceberg that drove Barry O’Farrell to leave the top job so quickly?
Norman Arnott Forestville
Coming from Wollongong, I have some first-hand experience of such things. When a local government is found to be – or strongly suspected of being – corrupt, it is dismissed and an administrator appointed. Given the level and extent of corruption in NSW politics, it is time to exercise this option. The corrupt and fetid behaviour of our pollies is beyond belief and the governor must step up and dismiss the entire Parliament and appoint an honest and trustworthy administrator. As there is an election due next year, a four- or five-year period should be enough and fit neatly into the electoral cycle.
Ron Wessel Mount St Thomas
Will this ICAC or the next investigate the deals behind the building of the monstrous casino at Barangaroo?
Rick Johnston Tamworth
It is as equally hard to find an honest politician in NSW as it is to find a black box in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Why do we even try? And how much of our moneydo we spend doing it?
Caroline Lewis Elanora Heights
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-letters/dodgy-dealings-a-pox-on-both-parties-20140429-zr1ao.html#ixzz30KszxY1b
boyo
Mark Ella (57)
A circuit-breaker needed for money and politics
EDITORIAL
No gloss can be put on this: elements of the NSW Liberal Party have engaged in money laundering, based on the claims made by counsel assisting the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Money laundering is a criminal activity. The surreptitious nature of these transactions also mean that connection between political favours and political donations can be hidden.
Regrettably, this will not come as a surprise to the cynical voters of NSW, who have seen a parade of politicians, political staffers, lobbyists and fund-raisers, from both sides of the political divide, appear at the ICAC. For years there controversies and rumours swirled around Labor figures, notably Eddie Obeid, Ian Macdonald and Tony Kelly, and now Obeid is a disgraced politician after numerous appearances and revelations at ICAC.
Now it is the turn of the Liberal Party, which has even seen its state leader and Premier, Barry O’Farrell, resign after misleading the ICAC, an accidental casualty that could easily have been avoided. There has been public consternation for years about the NSW Liberal Party’s domination by lobbyists, some of whom have had to be dragged kicking and screaming from their positions of power within the Liberal Party executive. Within this culture, it comes as no surprise that Liberal staffers, fund-raisers and politicians are being linked to political slush funds.
The latest ICAC investigation, Operation Spicer, has named the former NSW minister for energy and resources, Chris Hartcher, who abruptly resigned from cabinet last year after police raided his office. A Liberal member of the upper house, Marie Ficarra, withdrew from the party on Monday. Two Liberal MPs, Chris Spence and Darren Webber, whose electorates are adjacent to Mr Hartcher’s, have moved to the crossbenches pending the outcome of Operation Spicer. The NSW Liberals’ chief fund-raiser, Paul Nicolau, resigned his fund-raising position last week. The central figure in Operation Spicer is a former aide to Mr Hartcher, Tim Koelma, whose activities, as outlined by counsel assisting ICAC , appear to have been a combination of ineptitude, duplicity and deception.
The list of Liberal casualties coming out of ICAC is now long. There is more to come, on both sides of politics, because the royal commission into union slush funds, set up by the Abbott government and under the hawkeye of former High Court judge Dyson Heydon, will run for the next two years. It is expected to reveal numerous cases of money laundering involving union officials and corporations moving money into slush funds set up to benefit either the Labor Party or corrupt individuals. The recent Health Services Union scandal has already revealed a cornucopia of union corruption.
The good news is that all this is coming to light, showing the system is built to combat corruption. The new Premier, Mike Baird, is untouched by any scandal and in his first hour as Premier last week he expressed a determination to change the culture of the NSW Liberals. This was code for curbing the influence of the party’s powerbrokers who have been turning political access into profit. Similarly, Prime Minister Tony Abbott stated on his first day in office last September that the Liberal Party could no longer tolerate having lobbyists serving as party officials. He set up a royal commission to clean up union governance of unions in the knowledge that collusion by big corporations was likely to be caught in the net. Then there is ICAC itself, which is rolling on without fear or favour.
The big question, obviously, is how to respond to the rising cost of political campaigns and the subsequent rising tide of fund-raising. Not surprisingly, property developers and others seeking to gain favour from politicians by financing their re-election campaigns have sought to circumvent restrictions placed on such donations. These cumulative revelations show the amount of stress being put on the political system – and its ethics - by the increasing pressures to raise funds. Premier Baird has expressed support for public funding of political campaigns. While this would move more taxpayers’ funds into the political parties, we believe the idea deserves serious examination. The growing money obsession in politics needs a circuit-breaker.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-editorial/a-circuitbreaker-needed-for-money-and-politics-20140429-zr1cs.html#ixzz30Kvnsf5m
EDITORIAL
Former NSW minister for energy and resources, Chris Hartcher. Photo: Glenn Hunt
Regrettably, this will not come as a surprise to the cynical voters of NSW, who have seen a parade of politicians, political staffers, lobbyists and fund-raisers, from both sides of the political divide, appear at the ICAC. For years there controversies and rumours swirled around Labor figures, notably Eddie Obeid, Ian Macdonald and Tony Kelly, and now Obeid is a disgraced politician after numerous appearances and revelations at ICAC.
Now it is the turn of the Liberal Party, which has even seen its state leader and Premier, Barry O’Farrell, resign after misleading the ICAC, an accidental casualty that could easily have been avoided. There has been public consternation for years about the NSW Liberal Party’s domination by lobbyists, some of whom have had to be dragged kicking and screaming from their positions of power within the Liberal Party executive. Within this culture, it comes as no surprise that Liberal staffers, fund-raisers and politicians are being linked to political slush funds.
The latest ICAC investigation, Operation Spicer, has named the former NSW minister for energy and resources, Chris Hartcher, who abruptly resigned from cabinet last year after police raided his office. A Liberal member of the upper house, Marie Ficarra, withdrew from the party on Monday. Two Liberal MPs, Chris Spence and Darren Webber, whose electorates are adjacent to Mr Hartcher’s, have moved to the crossbenches pending the outcome of Operation Spicer. The NSW Liberals’ chief fund-raiser, Paul Nicolau, resigned his fund-raising position last week. The central figure in Operation Spicer is a former aide to Mr Hartcher, Tim Koelma, whose activities, as outlined by counsel assisting ICAC , appear to have been a combination of ineptitude, duplicity and deception.
The list of Liberal casualties coming out of ICAC is now long. There is more to come, on both sides of politics, because the royal commission into union slush funds, set up by the Abbott government and under the hawkeye of former High Court judge Dyson Heydon, will run for the next two years. It is expected to reveal numerous cases of money laundering involving union officials and corporations moving money into slush funds set up to benefit either the Labor Party or corrupt individuals. The recent Health Services Union scandal has already revealed a cornucopia of union corruption.
The good news is that all this is coming to light, showing the system is built to combat corruption. The new Premier, Mike Baird, is untouched by any scandal and in his first hour as Premier last week he expressed a determination to change the culture of the NSW Liberals. This was code for curbing the influence of the party’s powerbrokers who have been turning political access into profit. Similarly, Prime Minister Tony Abbott stated on his first day in office last September that the Liberal Party could no longer tolerate having lobbyists serving as party officials. He set up a royal commission to clean up union governance of unions in the knowledge that collusion by big corporations was likely to be caught in the net. Then there is ICAC itself, which is rolling on without fear or favour.
The big question, obviously, is how to respond to the rising cost of political campaigns and the subsequent rising tide of fund-raising. Not surprisingly, property developers and others seeking to gain favour from politicians by financing their re-election campaigns have sought to circumvent restrictions placed on such donations. These cumulative revelations show the amount of stress being put on the political system – and its ethics - by the increasing pressures to raise funds. Premier Baird has expressed support for public funding of political campaigns. While this would move more taxpayers’ funds into the political parties, we believe the idea deserves serious examination. The growing money obsession in politics needs a circuit-breaker.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-editorial/a-circuitbreaker-needed-for-money-and-politics-20140429-zr1cs.html#ixzz30Kvnsf5m
This whole NSW ICAC thing isn't working out so well for the NSW Liberal Party.
Mike Gallacher is the latest to be in hot water and it isn't looking particularly good for him.
Mike Gallacher is the latest to be in hot water and it isn't looking particularly good for him.
Pfitzy
George Gregan (70)
Yeah gee funny that. As soon as something is AGAINST corruption, politicians start to look nervous.
Just hope Baird is as good as his word when he is talking about the step back from lobby groups and political funding structures.
Problem is, there are a LOT of pollies and public servants, with a LOT of favours riding around on their involvement in the halls of power.
My dream: for results-based politicking, is still far away
Just hope Baird is as good as his word when he is talking about the step back from lobby groups and political funding structures.
Problem is, there are a LOT of pollies and public servants, with a LOT of favours riding around on their involvement in the halls of power.
My dream: for results-based politicking, is still far away
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