Hay: All Above Board
Illawarra Mercury
Monday April 14, 2008
WOLLONGONG MP Noreen Hay has again denied any wrongdoing in the wake of the corruption inquiry into Wollongong City Council.
Ms Hay was named in a wiretap played at the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) hearing into Wollongong City Council, apparently offering to lobby Labor councillors on behalf of developer Frank Vellar.She was stood down briefly from her position as parliamentary secretary for health, but was reinstated after the ICAC said she was not a person of interest and would not be called as a witness.Ms Hay also failed to declare donations totalling $63,000, as well as rent-free office space provided by Mr Vellar, which was put down to an "administrative error".Speaking to the ABC's Four Corners program tonight, Ms Hay said she didn't see a conflict of interest in accepting a rent-free office from a developer who wanted help getting things through council."Ah, but I don't see how those two things marry up because developers come to me all of the time, non-developers come to me all of the time, solicitors come to me, architects come to me, they all come to my fundraisers," she told Four Corners.Ms Hay said she made representations to council on behalf of all sorts of people. "If people do the wrong thing they have to pay the price for that," she said. "In my case, I haven't done the wrong thing. "That phone call could be the same as 100 other phone calls and that's what people ask of me." When asked if she was prepared to do Mr Vellar's bidding because of his donations, she said: "I wasn't doing anybody's bidding.""I was doing what I do as an MP."Ms Hay was also asked about the difference between a bribe and a donation. "I think there are different definitions and I think if someone asked me to do something for them and offered me something to do that, I would not be able to do that," she said. "I would be very reluctant to do that."Former Wollongong councillor Tony Kent said Ms Hay knew who was coming and going in the local Labor branch.When asked if she played a role in who got into council, he said: "Yes, I think so, yeah, yeah."Ms Hay said her fundraising functions were "fantastic" and she would continue the practice, despite the focus on political donations in the wake of the Wollongong scandal."How else am I going to raise money for campaigns?" she said. The program also turned the spotlight on the development of a new town in the NSW Hunter Valley. The developers who own the land, Hardie Holdings, are one of the biggest donors to the state Labor Party.The project was rejected by the planning department before being approved by Planning Minister Frank Sartor, the program reports.
© 2008 Illawarra Mercury
