No So Fast, Mr Iemma
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday March 6, 2008
THE Premier, Morris Iemma, was quick to stand down the Wollongong MP Noreen Hay as parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Health after her name cropped up at the Independent Commission Against Corruption's inquiry into Wollongong City Council. However, the Premier was altogether too quick in reinstating her.
Ms Hay was stood down last Friday after the commission heard a taped conversation from October 2006, between her and an allegedly corrupt developer, Frank Vellar. Mr Vellar tells Ms Hay he has "cut a deal" with Wollongong council over a controversial development. He asks Ms Hay whether he should contact Labor aldermen about the matter. Ms Hay says he can leave it to her. Mr Vellar says the aim is to get the Labor aldermen on side. Earlier, the inquiry had heard Mr Vellar claim the three aldermen in question had asked him for a bribe in connection with the same development, a claim the aldermen deny. On Tuesday, Mr Iemma re-instated Ms Hay as a parliamentary secretary. The Premier said the ICAC commissioner, Jerrold Cripps, had advised that Ms Hay was not an "affected person". The ICAC Act says that means no "substantial" allegations of corruption had been made against her. That may be good enough for Mr Iemma; it cannot be good enough for the public. The community deserves an explanation as to why an MP should be a go-between for a developer in his dealings with local councillors. Just when did that become part of the duty of a state MP? The question is all the more pointed when the developer and councillors are accused of corruption. Ms Hay says her words from October 2006 have been misinterpreted. So she should explain them. Indeed, the Premier should have demanded a detailed public explanation of Ms Hay's relationship with Mr Vellar and the aldermen before reinstating her. However, Mr Iemma's only concern was to brush Ms Hay under the nearest carpet. But she did not stay put. The Opposition has dragged her out to explain why she did not declare campaign donations totalling $64,951 until last December - and then only after the ICAC came knocking on her door - when they should have been on the public record last July. The donations included the value of a campaign office supplied by Mr Vellar. Mr Iemma has dismissed the omission as "an administrative error" in Labor's head office. That may be good enough for the Premier, it will not satisfy the people of NSW.
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald
