Last week at the Independent Commission Against Corruption there was one man in particular happy with the outcome, although nobody really understands why.
Arthur Sinodinos came out of ICAC with a big dumb grin on his face, he seemed to think he had been vindicated. No such luck Arthur…
ICAC is yet to hand down its findings so Sinodinos still has an anxious wait ahead of him, but the dumb grin he wore was an indication of his defence.
The defence that Sinodinos has chosen is the Shultz Defence, the “I know nothing” line that may work on some of the fools within his Party, but not on the public.
Arthur Sinodinos was chairman of Australian Water Holdings, being paid a fortune to do not a lot. It has been alleged that AWH issued fraudulent invoices on Sydney Water in order to pay huge political donations. Apparently Sinodinos knew nothing of it.
Another thing Arthur Sinodinos was chairman of at the time was the NSW Liberal Party’s Finance Committee. At the time the NSW Liberal Party was allegedly receiving vast amounts of illegal donations from developers that was apparently being laundered through the Free Enterprise Foundation, a Canberra based Liberal Party fundraising organisation that the Liberals hoped would fly under the radar but seems to have crashed into the radar instead. Despite rivers of once dirty but now hopefully clean donations coming in, Sinodinos as chairman of the Finance Committee once again saw nothing. He didn’t see the nasty stains still left on the donations, because like Shultz, he saw nothing and knew nothing.
Sinodinos also heard nothing we have been assured. ICAC has heard evidence that Sinodinos was present and taking part in meetings where the prospect of illegal donations being filtered through the Free Enterprise Foundation was openly discussed. Unfortunately Sinodinos missed those discussions he claims. Selective deafness or just snoozing?
Joe Hockey has come out this week saying that he thinks Sinodinos should be back on the front bench, while others think he should be should be facing court and possibly jail.
If Tony Abbott had any integrity whatsoever he would be seeking the resignation of Arthur Sinodinos as the people of Australia deserve better.
It seems that given the two options of either being corrupt or being stupid, Sinodinos is revelling in his claimed stupidity.
It is as simple as this, whether he is stupid or corrupt neither of these personality traits are befitting of an Australian Senator, even a Coalition one, just ask Fiona Nash. Actually best not ask her….
I’m with stupid…
While ICAC was a dream for the Liberal Party in the lead up to the last NSW and Federal elections it has now rapidly descended into a nightmare from which they can no longer wake up from. The number of Coalition scalps taken by ICAC would be enough to make Freddy Krueger jealous. Fairfax journalist Kate McClymont was kind enough to share with the ABC on 7 30 that it has embroiled one in five of the NSW Liberal MP’s.
The process of passing on an illegal donation via a Canberra based front is remarkably similar to supplying alcohol to a child.
The act of the adult buying the bottle of Vodka is perfectly legal. However then passing the bottle over to the 14-year-old girl who is not allowed to purchase or consume alcohol is an illegal act, just as the passing of a developers donation to a politician in NSW is illegal.
Coincidently the Liberal Party’s chief fundraiser Paul Nicolaou who has been an ICAC regular, is also NSW Chief Executive of the Australian Hotels Association, a true heavyweight in the alcohol industry.
Meanwhile the calls continue for a Federal ICAC while the Federal Coalition duck and dive from the issue.
ICAC has uncovered truly horrendous behaviour in NSW and has exposed the current NSW Coalition as what is almost certainly the most corrupt government in Australia’s history, and perhaps that is what strikes fear into the hearts of the Federal Coalition.
Given the behaviour of Arthur Sinodinos and Fiona Nash, maybe I don’t blame them.
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The depressing thing about all of this is that Sinodinos wil get off. He is entrenched in the power elite of Sydney and they will move heaven and earth to ensure that Sinodinos avoids any accountability. It happens time and time again. It is farcical.
Staggering logic that a senator that was head of the Obeid scam AWH, & saw nothing wrong with large sums of money he was ultimately responsible for being laundered & this government wants him on the front bench.
Seems like that’s the criteria for the Abbott government.
It’s a bit like joining a gang. You need to have a bit of “form” to get in. It gets worst by the week.
They’re behaving like bullet proof kids.
I agree with the comments above – Arthur will serve a bit more time on the back bench and then return to the Ministry and carry on as though nothing ever happened. It’s a pattern we’ve seen time and again.
Unfuckingbelievable this bloke shoud go to prison. The ICAC should ban answere such as I dont recall.
Don’t forget that Arfur was in charge with Howard running AWB from PM&C while they happily stole $300 million from starving Iraqis and gave it to Saddam Hussein, he couldn’t see anything wrong with the whole deal.
And he believed for years that the Iraqis really did throw their kids into the sea to try and kill them.
I have never been able to see why anyone thought Arfur was a smart chap, he seems to be a clueless dimwit to me.
So Joe wants Arthur back. probably because Arthur is the only one that could possibly make Joe look good. Ahh the old team – Dumb and Dumber.
I wonder what would have happened to Julia if she had used the Moronic Schultz defence at the RC. My guess is that she would be found guilty of all charges by the media and the Coalition would be braying for blood.
Even though he was on the back bench he still had the power in the senate to vote out the carbon tax, what a despicable and grubby human bean this man is.
Marwill10 – the current Royal Commission is inquiring into trade union governance and corruption. Its function is not, and never has been, to establish the guilt or innocence of any individual appearing before it, including Julia Gillard. Julia Gillard’s guilt or innocence can only be established by a Court of Law, and only after charges have been laid by a competent authority, for example, the police. At the moment, no charges have been laid against Julia Gillard, although she and others are being investigated by the Victoria Police Major Fraud and Extortion Squad. This investigation has been ongoing for more than a year and has involved 12 detectives on a full time basis. No doubt, the answers Julia Gillard gave under oath before the Royal Commission will be considered and weighed up by police investigators as part of their decision on whether or not to lay charges against her. The more immediate next step in the entire process will be the imminent 23 September Court hearing on the legal professional privilege claimed by Julia Gillard’s ex-boyfriend, Bruce Wilson, over 300 Slater & Gordon documents seized by police under warrant earlier this year. In view of the above, I think concerns about the hypothetical reactions of the media and the Coalition are premature at best, and ill-founded at worst.
Whats worse then corruption? Is turning a blind eye to it… because WE as the population of this country should be up in arms. But we arent. We should be protesting en masse (and i mean in the hundreds of thousands) that this government should go, but we arent. We get the government we deserve. The majority of the population of this country dont care. I would also bet that the majority dont even know who sandinos is.
Sam, you forget something about “getting the government we deserve”. They are ALL corrupt. All of them.
Peter, any thoughts or further information on this. Must admit to being somewhat gobsmacked when I came across this post yesterday morning.
http://pickeringpost.com/story/-i-was-raped-by-bill-shorten-cont-/3803
Sam. March Australia has seen well over a hundred thousand people take to the streets. I am sure u join in but if not checkout website for next one
I suggest that “I don’t recall” be taken to mean “I hereby resign from all public office and positions of responsibility on the grounds of mental incapacity.”
Is Sinidinis scot free now or can we still can him,I hope so
Still waiting for ICAC findings I believe