The Former NSW Labor planning minister Tony Kelly who played a pivotal role in the Fromholtz Park saga has been found by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) to have engaged in corrupt conduct. ICAC has recommended the Director of Public Prosecutions consider prosecuting Mr Kelly for forgery.
In better days Mr Kelly was certainly a can do minister being at one time or another being Minister for Infrastructure, Minister Assisting the Minister for Natural Resources, Minister for Local Government, Minister for Emergency Services ,Minister for Rural Affairs, Minister for Juvenile Justice, Minister for Justice Minister for Regional Minister for Industrial Minister for Emergency Services, and Minister for Police.
Mr Kelly first came to the notice of Borderline when he gave permission for the acquirement of Crown land on Fromholtz Park for a private childcare centre after being lobbied by the member for Albury, Greg Aplin and Chris Ryan, the then president of the Albury branch of the Australian Labor Party..
Mr Kelly has been found by ICAC to have acted corruptly over the purchase of the property Currawong. Also charged were two senior public servants, Warwick Watkins the chief executive of the NSW Land and Property Management Authority, and Robert Costello, the then chief financial officer of the LPMA.
Currawong has a curious history in that it one once owned by the union movement to provide inexpensive holiday accommodation for workers after the Second World war. In the seventies, eighties and nineties various attempts were made to develop the 20 hectare site. The locals fought numerous attempts to develop Currawong . In 2007 the Unions NSW sold it to Eco-Villages. Eco-Villages had, over the the years had been generous benefactor to the Labor Party. Originally Eco-villages had offered $15 million. A 'undisclosed' legal dispute arose between the vendor and buyer and the amount was reduced to $11 million. During this time Eco-Villages made several attempts to subdivide and develop the land which was rejected by the them planning minister Kristina Keneally. The sale of Currawong was finally settled with Eco-Villages paying $9.5 million the in January 2011. Six weeks later the NSW State Government bought Currawong for $12.2 million. Previous to Eco-Villages offer Michael McGurk had offered Unions NSW $30 million for Currawong. He was acting on behalf of property developer, Ron Medich. Mr Medich is currently on bail on charges of having murdered McGurk. Mr Medich had hoped to develop it with housing and a marina. The offer was rejected because Mr Medich's offer was conditional on planning approval.
Borderline only mentions the above paragraph to enable those with some imagination a moment or two to consider the machinations and intrigue that accompanied the numerous schemes to develop Currawong over the years and the personalities involved.
Mr Watkins purchase of Currawong was without ministerial approval. It is a convention of the Westminster system when the government is in caretaker mode that no major decisions are to be made.
When Premier Kristina Keneally got wind of Watkins purchase of the property she ordered an internal investigation and stood down Mr Watkins. The then premier also referred the matter to ICAC. What Watkins had done was persuade Mr Kelly to sign and backdate a letter saying that the transaction had ministerial approval to make the purchase legitimate. Mr Watkins has since been dismissed.
ICAC have recommended the Director of Public Prosecutions prosecute Mr Kelly the Crimes Act over the backdating of the letter and 'misconduct in public office', which carries a maximum penalty of ten years in goal.
During the ICAC inquiry Mr Kelly, who was the last witness in the ICAC investigation was prone to forgetfulness that could almost be clinically described an pathological amnesia. Many witnesses who have appeared before ICAC have suffered a similar vagueness when it comes to recollecting past events. Mr Kelly's inability to remember anything of significance was answered time and time again with 'I don't recall'. The other former Labor minister, Ian Macdonald who was investigated by ICAC for corruption had similar problems with his memory or that he was asleep at the time. When Mr Macdonald accepted the services of a prostitute and a hotel room paid for by Ron Medich. It was nothing of the kind. After what began as a long drunken lunch costing the NSW taxpayers $850 Mr Macdonald had said in passing said that he wanted a neck massage and his wife normally gave him one. Apparently Mrs Macdonald was at home so she was unable to attend to her husband. He had asked Mr Medich, who was dinning with him at the time where he could get one (a neck massage) at that time of the night. Mr Medich knowingly obliged and drove him to the motel, the Four Seasons. When Mr Macdonald entered the room provided for him a young Asian woman, Tiffanie, was reclining on the bed in her underwear. Mr Macdonald told ICAC there was nothing unusual about it because she was there to give him a neck massage. Apparently nothing much happened because Mr Macdonald said that he was asleep as soon as his head 'hit the pillow'. It was pointed out that he had twice accessed the internet on his mobile phone while he was asleep. On this instance he couldn't recall.
