Eddie Obeid’s avalanche hits federal Labor
Andrew Clennell, Vanda Carson and Gemma Jones
The Daily Telegraph
February 06, 2013 4:25PM
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Obeid avalanche
Obeid threatened with contempt…
Listen to the Obeid phone tap
Ultimate betrayal?
Obeid avalanche
Source: The Daily Telegraph
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Obeid threatened with contempt of court
Former NSW Labor MP Eddie Obeid has been threatened with a contempt of court charge at the ICAC.
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Listen to the Obeid phone tap
Eddie Obeid and Greg Jones on the court tendered intercepted telecommunication
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Ultimate betrayal?
The corruption watchdog has accused Eddie Obeid of being part of a criminal conspiracy to rip off the people of NSW
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SENIOR federal government MP Stephen Conroy has accused the opposition of running a smear campaign by trying to link him to ICAC’s inquiry into the Obeid family.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has heard former NSW Labor factional player Eddie Obeid offered free accommodation at his family’s Perisher Valley ski lodge to Labor members, including now federal ministers Tony Burke and Senator Conroy and former senator Mark Arbib.
Mr Obeid told ICAC that Employment Minister Bill Shorten had also been invited to the lodge, but media reports suggest Mr Obeid mistakenly named Mr Shorten when he meant Senator Conroy.
“I am such a close friend of Mr Eddie Obeid that he couldn’t even remember my name yesterday,” Senator Conroy told parliament on Wednesday.
“I am so close to Mr Obeid that he actually got my name wrong – he actually named someone else.”
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STEPHEN Conroy and Tony Burke admitted staying at Eddie Obeid’s Perisher ski lodge, as federal Labor figures embroiled in ICAC inquiry.
Senator Conroy said Mr Burke invited him to stay at the lodge and he realised it was owned by Mr Obeid during his time there.The opposition were “down in the gutter” with their suggestions about him, Senator Conroy said.
“They want to do any smear, it doesn’t matter how tenuous, it doesn’t matter how thin, it doesn’t matter how outrageous,” he said.
1:29pm ICAC Commissioner David Ipp has announced former resources minister Ian Macdonald will give evidence on Monday. The inquiry will not sit on Friday.
Mr Ipp also said the Commission will hand down its findings into this current matter, dubbed Operation Jasper, and three other investigations by July.
They include the report into allegations former minister Eric Roozendaal received a financial benefit on a new car in return for favours to the Obeid family, and Operation Jarilo- the sensational inquiry alleging Mr Macdonald received services from a prostitute Tiffanie as a reward for arranging for his friend and accused murderer Ron Medich to meet energy officials who could advance his business interests.
The NSW Labor Inc scandal found its way to the highest levels of Julia Gillard’s government yesterday when two senior federal ministers acknowledged they received free stays at Eddie Obeid’s ski chalet and did not declare the hospitality to Parliament.
Mr Obeid took out the trash at ICAC yesterday, revealing how a conga line of ALP MPs had visited his chalet, including Communications Minister and government leader in the Senate Stephen Conroy and Environment Minister Tony Burke.
He also told ICAC that Mr Macdonald, state Opposition Leader John Robertson, former federal minister Mark Arbib and former state transport minister Carl Scully all stayed at Perisher.
The chalet is part of The Stables, a ski-in, ski-out complex of serviced apartments where the Obeids have a three-bedroom luxury property. The self-contained apartments have spa baths, underfloor heating and gas flame fireplaces. A two-night stay in peak snow season costs $2800.
Mr Burke, who entered federal parliament in 2004 after a year in state parliament, admitted two stays between 2004 and 2006 and said he will amend his pecuniary interest register.
Mr Conroy admitted a two-day visit in either 2005 or 2006 and will make a late declaration. Mr Robertson and Mr Arbib admitted to stays there with their families – but both said it was before they entered parliament.
A spokeswoman for Mr Robertson said he stayed at the lodge in 2007, a year before he became an MP, so there was no need to declare it on the pecuniary interest register.
Mr Arbib said he went there for a weekend with his family in “2004 or 2005” – two years before he entered the Senate.
Mr Obeid also said he believed federal Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten and former premier Morris Iemma, who has ambitions of running for the federal seat of Barton, may have stayed there. Both men denied this.
A spokesman for Mr Shorten said: “It is completely untrue. He has never been to Perisher.
“He has never visited a lodge at Perisher. And he can’t ski.”
Mr Burke, who on Friday said he was “unimpressed” with what was going on at ICAC, said: “I understand that media reporting today has referred to me staying at an apartment in Perisher Valley in NSW owned by Mr Eddie Obeid. Given the media interest … I declare two separate stays at this accommodation in the period 2004 to 2006.
“On both occasions I stayed with my family. On neither occasion was any member of the Obeid family present.
“Although the resolution relating to the declaration of interest excludes interests received in a personal capacity, I believe it is in the public interest to clarify this matter.” A check of Mr Burke’s interests revealed while he elected not to declare stays at Perisher, he did declare tickets to a Justin Bieber concert in 2011.
Mr Conroy issued a similar statement, declaring that he had “one stay for two days at this apartment in either 2005 or 2006”, adding “no member of the Obeid family was present during my stay”. The revelations came up at ICAC yesterday when counsel assisting the inquiry, Geoffrey Watson SC, quizzed Mr Obeid about Mr Macdonald’s visit and asked if free holiday accommodation was “a way you create an obligation on other people”.
Mr Obeid said his family “are generous people and we like to share our generosity with other people.” Mr Macdonald is accused of creating mining tenements, including on Obeid family property, that stood to make them more than $75 million.
Mr Obeid also revealed former premier Nathan Rees decided on his first cabinet a day after he took office in September 2008 during a meeting at Joe Tripodi’s house, with Mr Obeid present.
Eddie’s avalanche hits federal Labor
Obeid avalanche
UPDATE SENIOR federal MP Stephen Conroy has accused the opposition of running a smear campaign by linking him to Obeid inquiry.