The ICAC hearings continue in Sydney today, after yesterday’s allegations of political donation rorting sent yet another party MP to the crossbench.
The corruption probe aired claims Liberal figures had used a sham company to secretly funnel more than 400 thousand dollars in political donations in exchange for favours from sidelined cabinet minister Chris Hartcher.
Counsel assisting the inquiry, Geoffrey Watson, said the watchdog’s investigators had uncovered evidence of ‘sophisticated, well-organised and systematic subversion of the electoral funding laws’ of NSW.
Central to ICAC’s Operation Spicer is alleged slush fund EightByFive, set up by Mr Hartcher’s former staffer Tim Koelma.
The company purported to offer marketing and strategic advice, Mr Watson said, but its true role was to conceal political donations from property developers, which have been banned in NSW since 2009.
One MP who is said to have known about EightByFive is upper house MP Marie Ficarra, who stepped down from the parliamentary Liberal Party yesterday at the premier’s request.
source: skynews.com.au
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