COUNCIL CORRUPTION ESCALATES DOWN UNDER

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AUSTRALIA: Politics Tuesday, July 9 2002  - The World Today Archive - Originally Reported by: Eleanor Hall

COMPERE: Members of a prominent Sydney Council could be sacked and sent to jail following the news today that The New South Wales corruption watchdog, te Independent Commission Against Corruption, has recommended two councillors and two developers be charged with taking bribes.

Rockdale Council has been under investigation now for some months over allegations it corruptly approved millions of dollars worth of development in the increasing pricey southern Sydney region.  Evidence, gathered covertly, has pointed to a sleazy regime involving developers, go betweens and bribes to councillors and political parties.  Million dollar developments were often at stake, and the affair has embroiled both the Liberal and Labor parties.

One councillor has already resigned over the scandal. Now another is facing not only the threat of the sack but the possibility of criminal charges. Our reporter Simon Santow is at the ICAC and he joins me now. Simon what exactly has the Commissioner recommended today?

SIMON SANTOW: Well Eleanor, not surprisingly the Commissioner has followed the recommendations of their own Council and have agreed that in fact, six of those people that you mentioned, the two developers, the two go betweens and the two Councillors have been found by them to be corrupt.

And engaged in corrupt conduct and that brief of evidence has been passed on to the Director of Public Prosecutions in New South Wales. Who will now consider whether or not to lay charges.

COMPERE: So what does this mean now for the future of the Council and for the individual Councillors in particular.

SIMON SANTOW: Irene Moss, the ICAC Commissioner, stopped short of recommending that the Council itself be sacked. She didn't agree that there was systemic corruption in the Council.

However, she certainly recommended that the Deputy Mayor, Labour Councillor, Adam McCormick who remain to this day on the Council should be dismissed as a result of facing such serious criminal charges of soliciting or receiving bribes.

Eleanor Hall

COMPERE: Now you mentioned Adam McCormick. What it is that the ICAC is alleging that he has done?

SIMON SANTOW: Well ICAC is basically alleging that he received bribes in the course of his work as a Councillor. That he may not arranged the bribes himself but he was happy to go along with it.

During weeks of public hearings the ICAC heard recordings covertly made and SMS text messages also covertly intercepted which indicated that Councillor McCormick was happy to provide his vote and even arrange some votes from his ALP colleagues.

In return for accepting money from developers often through go betweens which would then, he said, be made as political donations to the ALP and he would be in fact the person to pass on those political donations to the ALP.

COMPERE: Now another Councillor has in fact resigned over this scandal. What has Adam McCormick said about his text messages that have been intercepted, and so many of them, what's his explanation for them?

SIMON SANTOW: Well he claims that the Councillor, you say who has resigned, Councillor Andrew Smyrnis, the Liberal Councillor effectively denied everything, then rolled over and agreed.

Yes, you've got me. You've caught me and I was in it. His colleague Adam McCormick, the Labor one, is now claiming or did claim in the public hearings that a lot of the intercepted messages that enveloped him in the scandal was just fanciful talk.

Councillor McCormick said I boasted about influence, I boasted that I could do things that I couldn't necessarily do things and that you shouldn't take everything that I said seriously.

COMPERE: Now you said that the ICAC doesn't regard the Council as having systemic corruption there. But does it regard this incident as an isolated case or is there some suggestion that the practice could be more widespread?

SIMON SANTOW: Well in fact, Irene Moss has gone out of her way to say that what happened at Rockdale could easily have happened in other Councils in New South Wales. And by that extension, one would assume that also across Australia given that the process of development applications is pretty standard across the country.

When you want to get a building application approved you need to put it before a Council, they need to approve it and they vote on that process.

COMPERE: Has she made any recommendation then to try and stem that?

SIMON SANTOW: Indeed, she says that in fact Councils should look at appointing independent advisory hearing panels which would look at alternative decision making models from the current process of putting things to a vote.

And in doing that, they would seek obviously independent advice and they would maximise openness and there would be less room for this sort of corrupt behaviour to occur.

COMPERE: And very briefly Simon, are there any lessons or warning signals for any other tiers of Government in Australia?

SIMON SANTOW: Well certainly I guess the most relevant part of that Eleanor, is the issue of political donations. As I said, Adam McCormick said he was just gathering political donations for the ALP.

Well, if you believe him Irene Moss the Commissioner of ICAC has a problem with that in that she says that political donations might well be a part of the democratic process.

But, we need greater openness, we need stronger disclosure rules, we need guidelines for lobbying Councillors and that the political parties, she'd like to see a bipartisan approach taken by the political parties in order to have a better system of political donations.

COMPERE: Simon Santow down at the Independent Commission for Corruption Headquarters in Sydney, thanks very much for that.

 

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