Peter Hall & ICAC's latest investigation into lobbying contniues to side-step the Premier in Waiting , Mark Speakman and the Top Group LLB affair
by Ganesh Sahathevan
In his current inquiry into Chinese donations to the Labor Party ,ICAC Commissioner Peter
Hall QC(picture above) seems reluctant to go anywhere near the matter of Zhu Minshen and his Top Group,whose
donations to the NSW Liberal Party may have consequences for Hall's former colleagues at the NSW Bar and Bench who manage the Legal Profession Admission Board, the body that has provided Zhu the status of a law school vice chancellor.
First see
Compare the above inaction with this inetrrogation of other NSW ministers,reported this morning by the SMH:
In his current inquiry into Chinese donations to the Labor Party ,ICAC Commissioner Peter
Hall QC(picture above) seems reluctant to go anywhere near the matter of Zhu Minshen and his Top Group,whose
donations to the NSW Liberal Party may have consequences for Hall's former colleagues at the NSW Bar and Bench who manage the Legal Profession Admission Board, the body that has provided Zhu the status of a law school vice chancellor.
First see
NSW Libs received donations of $44,275 from TOP Education Group just before after TOP was granted the "first & only" license issued a private company to award law degrees: AG Speakman and his LPAB refuse to disclose all details in the LPAB Annual Reports
and
Peter Hall QC and ICAC have been provided information about Top Group by Dr Amen Lee, but ICAC will still not call Zhu Minshen
Compare the above inaction with this inetrrogation of other NSW ministers,reported this morning by the SMH:
The state’s corruption watchdog has written to Berejiklian government ministers requiring them to disclose details about how they interact with paid political lobbyists.
The correspondence, sent over the holiday period, is part of the Independent Commission Against Corruption's Operation Eclipse investigation into the regulation of lobbying, access and influence.
NSW Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello is understood to be one of the ministers to receive the ICAC letter.CREDIT:NICK MOIR
Gladys Berejiklian's office declined to comment on how many ministers had been contacted by the ICAC and whether a request for information had also been received by the Premier's office.
"It would not be appropriate for the NSW government to comment on active ICAC investigations," her spokeswoman said. "All questions regarding the investigation should be directed to ICAC."
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Government sources who were not permitted to speak on the record confirmed the letters required ministerial offices to disclose various details about how lobbyists are managed.
The letters also request details about how the meetings are organised.
John Sidoti has stood aside as sports minister pending an ICAC inquiry.CREDIT:NICK MOIR
The Herald understands letters from ICAC have been received by Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello, Energy Minister Matt Kean and Skills Minister Geoff Lee, among others.
The letters were part of a "fact-finding exercise", one source said.
The ICAC is already investigating Liberal MP John Sidoti, who stood aside from Cabinet in September pending the outcome of that inquiry, over allegations he used knowledge of proposed public transport developments to inform property purchases.
Mr Sidoti has denied all wrongdoing.
The ICAC launched Operation Eclipse last April, investigating whether there is adequate disclosure of lobbying activities and whether current regulations are working.
"Other than some instances where third-party lobbyists may have failed to update relevant documentation, no lobbyist has been suspended or placed on the watch list," an interim Operation Eclipse report, released by the ICAC in October, noted.
"This may suggest that the current regulatory system is not effectively identifying and managing problematic lobbying practices or promoting transparency, integrity and honesty as per the stated purpose of the [lobbyist code of conduct]."
The interim report also noted that while it was an offence for a former minister to lobby a bureaucrat on a matter they had responsibility for within 18 months of holding the office, there had been "no prosecutions ... nor have there been any relevant findings of corrupt conduct in NSW".
A number of senior Coalition and Labor figures have departed Parliament to work in political lobbying, including former Liberal leaders Peter Collins and Kerry Chikarovski, as well as former premier Nathan Rees and former public industries minister Katrina Hodgkinson.
Recently departed police minister Troy Grant is consulting for Deloitte on cyber-security — but has told Parliamentary Ethics Advisor John Evans he will not be lobbying the government.
However, Operation Eclipse is not targeting specific allegations of corruption.
An ICAC spokeswoman declined to comment on Thursday.
The commission last investigated influence and access in the 2010 Operation Halifax inquiry, which made a number of recommendations including requiring political consultants to disclose when they and who they lobbied and for which client. It also recommended banning lobbyist success fees.
While some recommendations were adopted, several were not.
The correspondence, sent over the holiday period, is part of the Independent Commission Against Corruption's Operation Eclipse investigation into the regulation of lobbying, access and influence.
NSW Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello is understood to be one of the ministers to receive the ICAC letter.CREDIT:NICK MOIR
Gladys Berejiklian's office declined to comment on how many ministers had been contacted by the ICAC and whether a request for information had also been received by the Premier's office.
"It would not be appropriate for the NSW government to comment on active ICAC investigations," her spokeswoman said. "All questions regarding the investigation should be directed to ICAC."
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Government sources who were not permitted to speak on the record confirmed the letters required ministerial offices to disclose various details about how lobbyists are managed.
The letters also request details about how the meetings are organised.
John Sidoti has stood aside as sports minister pending an ICAC inquiry.CREDIT:NICK MOIR
The Herald understands letters from ICAC have been received by Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello, Energy Minister Matt Kean and Skills Minister Geoff Lee, among others.
The letters were part of a "fact-finding exercise", one source said.
The ICAC is already investigating Liberal MP John Sidoti, who stood aside from Cabinet in September pending the outcome of that inquiry, over allegations he used knowledge of proposed public transport developments to inform property purchases.
Mr Sidoti has denied all wrongdoing.
The ICAC launched Operation Eclipse last April, investigating whether there is adequate disclosure of lobbying activities and whether current regulations are working.
"Other than some instances where third-party lobbyists may have failed to update relevant documentation, no lobbyist has been suspended or placed on the watch list," an interim Operation Eclipse report, released by the ICAC in October, noted.
"This may suggest that the current regulatory system is not effectively identifying and managing problematic lobbying practices or promoting transparency, integrity and honesty as per the stated purpose of the [lobbyist code of conduct]."
The interim report also noted that while it was an offence for a former minister to lobby a bureaucrat on a matter they had responsibility for within 18 months of holding the office, there had been "no prosecutions ... nor have there been any relevant findings of corrupt conduct in NSW".
A number of senior Coalition and Labor figures have departed Parliament to work in political lobbying, including former Liberal leaders Peter Collins and Kerry Chikarovski, as well as former premier Nathan Rees and former public industries minister Katrina Hodgkinson.
Recently departed police minister Troy Grant is consulting for Deloitte on cyber-security — but has told Parliamentary Ethics Advisor John Evans he will not be lobbying the government.
However, Operation Eclipse is not targeting specific allegations of corruption.
An ICAC spokeswoman declined to comment on Thursday.
The commission last investigated influence and access in the 2010 Operation Halifax inquiry, which made a number of recommendations including requiring political consultants to disclose when they and who they lobbied and for which client. It also recommended banning lobbyist success fees.
While some recommendations were adopted, several were not.
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