Eric Roozendaal

Corruption allegations and investigations into dodgy unionists and labour politicians are coming to a head in Australia and the body blows are mounting.

At least in Australia they have an Independent Commission Against Corruption to investigate these allegations. Here in New Zealand our police seem reluctant to even investigate dodgy politicians.

PART ONE of the trilogy of corruption inquiries starring former Labor ministers will get under way today in a purpose-built hearing room to accommodate a battalion of barristers who, over the next five months, will represent more than 70 witnesses.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption’s three-part inquiry is expected to be one of the most sensational in NSW history and will examine explosive corruption allegations against the former ministers Eddie Obeid, Ian Macdonald and Eric Roozendaal.

Also on the witness list are three former premiers – Morris Iemma, Kristina Keneally and Nathan Rees – along with senior ministers including Frank Sartor.

Mr Roozendaal, who is the only one of the three Labor heavyweights still in Parliament, will feature in the first of the inquiries, which will start at 10am and is expected to run for a week.

Operation Indus will investigate the circumstances in which Moses Obeid, one of the five sons of the former minister, provided a brand new Honda CRV to Mr Roozendaal, the then minister for commerce and roads.

The first witness scheduled to give evidence is a Camperdown panel beater, Peter Fitzhenry, who will be followed by a car dealer, Keith Goodman.

The pair are expected to provide details of Moses Obeid’s 2007 request that the pair source a black Honda CRV for Mr Roozendaal but to put the car in the name of Nata Re.

Once Mr Roozendaal had taken delivery of the Honda, Moses Obeid organised the $44,000 payment from an account of his business partner, the property developer Rocco Triulcio.

Nata Re is the sister of Mr Triulcio. Mrs Re has previously told Fairfax Media that she had never owned a Honda CRV and that she had never heard of Eric Roozendaal.

This isn;t going to end well for Labor.

ᔥ Sydney Morning Herald

I have long advocated an Independent Commission Against Corruption. For many years it has been ably demonstrated that when it comes to investigating and prosecuting politicians the Police are rather squeamish. Not so in Australia…where yet more Labor politicians are under the cosh for corruption:

The explosive allegations of corruption against three former NSW Labor ministers is set to embroil the party for months with the corruption watchdog announcing its inquiry will begin on November 1 and run until at least April.

Last Friday the Independent Commission Against Corruption began serving summonses on witnesses to give evidence at the public inquiry.

In a media release issued today, the ICAC said it had been conducting three separate investigations “concerning corruption allegations” involving the former NSW Minister for Primary Industries and Mineral Resources, Ian Macdonald, former minister for mineral resources Eddie Obeid, and former minister for roads and commerce, Eric Roozendaal.

In Australia it is. This morning I outlined the HSU boss Michael Williamson who was on $350000 per year.

It turns out he is being investigated for a series of other rorts to feather his own nest.

A separate audit being prepared by Ian Temby QC is expected to be damaging to Mr Williamson, who stood down in October after a series of revelations in The Sydney Morning Herald that he had milked the union through the abuse of credit cards and IT contracts worth $1 million a year granted to his company, United Edge.

That’s IT covered. What about crony board positions? Not a rort but he is probably earning more than most of his members in board positions on top of his salary.

Mr Williamson’s union-appointed positions include directorships – currently suspended – at state government-related entities, First State Super, State Government Employees (SGE) Credit Union and State Water Corporation, a $34,000 a year position he was appointed to by former NSW Treasurer Eric Roozendaal just before Labor lost office.
Mr Williamson’s union-appointed boardroom roles add more than $100,000 a year to his reported $350,000 a year as general secretary of the HSU.

Then he has what must be the highest paid secretary in the world. Maybe she provides “additional services” as well as secretarial services, and it is not a rort, just a long term arrangement that is cheaper than paying for hookers on the union credit card.

The Temby report is said to contain revelations that a further $400,000 a year has been flowing from the HSU to a company owned by his wife Julie for ”secretarial services”.

Huge money flows to unions every year in New Zealand.Does it flow to the union bosses who are the 1%?