Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on Minister Carr's response to my question. As Senator Brandis correctly said, he took no objection to the premise of my question. He was so eager to stand up and reply no that he clearly admitted that the premise of my question—namely, that as Premier of New South Wales he presided over a government riven by corruption, as revealed by the Eddie Obeid scandal—is actually correct. One needs to look at the attitude that Minister Carr, then Premier of New South Wales, had in relation to Eddie Obeid. Let me quote two extracts from The Reluctant Leader,written by Marilyn Dodkin in relation to Bob Carr. The first one is:

I wake up yesterday to switch on the 7 am news and hear Brogden saying fisheries Minister Eddie Obeid should stand down while the ICAC investigates a front-page Herald fantasy that he solicited a million-dollar donation to the ALP in exchange for approving the 600 poker machines required for the Bulldogs Oasis development at Liverpool. I ring Obeid. He says it's a total fabrication. By 7.30 am (fast work) I am running on all bulletins rebutting the story. The Obeid story does not take off.

Then there is this one:

Three right-wingers—Bob Martin, Eddie Obeid and Franca Arena—fought for the last right-wing place in the ministry. Carr voted for Obeid.

So that tells its own story.

It was interesting to see Franca Arena last week also writing in the papers. She has been absent from writing in the papers recently. She reminded us all that when she was calling for investigation in New South Wales in relation to child abuse we saw the end of her political career in New South Wales. So, has Minister Carr ever stopped, paused to reflect, that had he not promoted, protected and defended Mr Obeid Australia would not now be in a position where its international reputation is at risk of being stained by the activities of this scandal in New South Wales which, as Senator Brandis correctly points out, is one of the worst examples of corruption that this country has ever seen?

But wait, there is more. I am sure that this ICAC inquiry is going to reveal much, much more. I think what we have seen is only the tip of the iceberg. Let us not forget about Sussex Street. I see Senator Thistlethwaite over there, and I am looking forward to hearing what Senator Thistlethwaite is going to tell us about the New South Wales right. Perhaps he might share some information he knows about Eddie Obeid and some of his dealings and the dealings of the Terrigals in New South Wales. Perhaps he has something to contribute to this debate.

When you look at what has happened in New South Wales you definitely see that Eddie Obeid was a protected species. Time precludes me from trawling through the many examples in the New South Wales parliament when Minister Carr was the Premier where questions were raised about scandal after scandal involving Eddie Obeid. And do you know what? Very few questions were directly answered. When it was in relation to Mr Obeid, for example, in September 1999, about pecuniary interest and failure to properly disclose there, all that Premier Carr did was patronise the Leader of the Opposition, Kerry Chikarovski, by basically batting it off and being patronising in telling her that on this occasion he would extend latitude to her.

In this current debate, perhaps misogyny might have been reigning supreme at that time, but it is not a convenient excuse as we are seeing it at the moment.

Then of course there was, as I said, the Oasis Liverpool development, and the pecuniary interest disclosures, which ultimately ended up showing that Eddie Obeid had made 154 errors in his pecuniary interests since 1991.