ICAC & The Entitled Liberals

[boris1gary]

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/icac-liberal-party-official-john-caputo-admits-giving-cheques-to-chris-har... 

ICAC: Liberal Party official John Caputo admits giving cheques to Chris Hartcher

A Liberal Party official linked to Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Premier Mike Baird has come under fire at a corruption inquiry over thousands of dollars in cheques he gave to former state energy minister Chris Hartcher.

John Caputo, a fundraiser for Mr Abbott and Mr Baird and a former mayor of Warringah, admitted at the Independent Commission Against Corruption on Thursday that it was a "diversion" from normal practice to give political donations made out to the NSW Liberal Party directly to Mr Hartcher.

This included cheques handed over by donors at a March 2011 fundraising dinner attended by Mr Hartcher and former Attorney-General Greg Smith.

Junior counsel assisting the commission Greg O'Mahoney asked whether it "sounds a bit like a fraud" that cheques made out to the NSW Liberals were not given first to head office or its treasurer, as Mr Caputo said was the normal practice.

"No," Mr Caputo replied.

He said that Liberal Party donations were sometimes given directly to particular regions, but he struggled to recall other examples.

[donnashuggy]

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@lakeland27 wrote:
what i'm really interested in is abuse of the nsw electoral laws and how it affects a MP's standing.. if he or rather they are expected to vacate their seats . new elections .

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I don't think there is any assurance of that.

[lakeland27]

yes, but i like the idea of it actually costing them some seats.

[boris1gary]

The rotten stench of the NSW Fiberals imploding Robbo for Premier

  http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/liberals-credibility-hanging-by-a-thread-before-election-20140502-zr3dk.ht...

  Liberals' credibility hanging by a thread before election

The credibility of the NSW government has been hanging by a thread since the resignation of premier Barry O'Farrell last month.

O'Farrell's decision allowed cleanskin Mike Baird to step into the job in a bid to stem the bleeding that started when energy minister Chris Hartcher resigned from cabinet in December and continued when he and fellow central coast MPs Darren Webber and Chris Spence had their memberships of the parliamentary Liberal party suspended.

The resignation from cabinet of Mike Gallacher on Friday after he was accused of corrupt conduct in relation to the same alleged slush fund, Eightbyfive, that has tainted Hartcher and his colleagues risks blowing any remaining trust in the government to pieces in the mind of the public.

The message it sends is appalling. Gallacher is not only Police Minister but also Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council. In other words, he has enjoyed the position of a respected leader of the parliamentary wing of the Liberal party.

Yet he is accused of corruptly colluding with Hartcher in a "scheme" to funnel illegal political donations to the Liberal candidates on the central coast. To top it off Gallacher is a former policeman who was presiding over the attestation of 180 new officers at the academy in Goulburn around the time the corruption allegations were made against against him.

Baird's elevation to the Premier's office promised the government a fresh start, but any benefit his appointment might have delivered gets eroded with every sensational new revelation aired at the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Public hearings at this particular ICAC have several weeks to run. On the witness list next week are two senior Liberals: Mark Neeham, who was until late last year the party's state director; and NSW Liberal finance director Simon McInnes.

Each is expected to be questioned about allegations the party knowingly solicited and used illegal donations to bankroll its 2011 state election victory.

So while the parliamentary wing of the Liberals is reeling, party head office in William Street is likely to be under siege as well.

It's hard to imagine a more difficult situation for a political organisation less than a year out from an election.

[donnashuggy]

[cherry*135]

This sounds like something LNP supporters would post if the shoe was on the other foot.

No end in sight for Liberal's worst nightmare
SMH

"Not even the most pessimistic Liberal Party observer could have predicted this level of carnage when the hearings were first outlined this year.

But that's not the worst of it. The party is bracing for a far bigger hit.

The words spoken by counsel assisting the commission, Geoffrey Watson, in his opening address on Monday will have chilled many in the Liberal Party to the bone."

[monman12]

"what i'm really interested in is abuse of the nsw electoral laws and how it affects a MP's standing.. if he or rather they are expected to vacate their seats . new elections . "

LL, they become ineligible to remain under :

Section 13A(1)(e) of the Constitution Act 1902 provides that a member’s seat
becomes vacant if the member is convicted of an infamous crime, or of an offence
punishable by imprisonment for life or for a term of five years or more.

A further reading of the legislation produces:

"As with other provisions under section 13A, section 13A(1)(e) only applies to a
sitting member of Parliament. It does not prevent a person who has been
convicted of such an offence from being elected to Parliament (although, as cited
earlier, under section 21 of the Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Act 1912, a
person sentenced to imprisonment for 12 months or more and in prison serving
that sentence is not eligible to be elected).

So there is hope for the ex ALP luminaries who star somewhat more frequently, (currently even)  than their Lib counterparts,  when it comes to residing in H.M. Prisons.

nɥºɾ

[lakeland27]

you misunderstand, i'm only interested in serving MP's losing seats. the person Thomson you mention isn't serving, he's gone. So what we have are MPs who probably won't face court during their terms when it might count. like thomson. i was asking for fun rather than an answer anyway, i find it a source of fun .

[boris1gary]

[spotweldersfriend]

I say,I do like this Watson chap:)

[lakeland27]

Watson posters are flying out of the printers .  i may paper an entire wall.