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Two NSW Liberal MPs stand down from party after Icac hearing Two NSW Liberal MPs stand down from party after Icac hearing
(about 1 hour later)
New South Wales Liberal MPs Andrew Cornwell and Tim Owen have stood down from the party following evidence given at the corruption watchdog Icac on Wednesday. The New South Wales Liberal MPs Andrew Cornwell and Tim Owen have stood down from the party after allegations put forward at corruption watchdog the Independent Commission Against Corruption on Wednesday. Cornwell will also relinquish the position of government whip.
Cornwell, the MP for Charlestown, will also relinquish the position of government whip. “I make no judgment regarding the outcome of Operation Spicer,” the NSW premier, Mike Baird, said in a statement. “However, it will take time for the allegations to be resolved, and I am not prepared to allow this to become a distraction for the party or the government.”
“I make no judgment regarding the outcome of Operation Spicer,” said NSW premier Mike Baird in a statement. Earlier, Icac heard Cornwell had been offered $10,000 in a brown paper bag by the Newcastle mayor, Jeff McCloy, before the 2011 state election.
“However, it will take time for the allegations to be resolved, and I am not prepared to allow this to become a distraction for the party or the government.” The MP told the commission he had been offered the cash while sitting in the mayor’s Bentley. The bag was described as either a brown paper bag or brown envelope full of $100 bills.
Tim Owen, the member for Newcastle, had previously announced he would not contest the next election. Counsel assisting Geoffrey Watson said Cornwell had passed the money to a Liberal party colleague and the money was fed through a company called Harmony Hill and eventually funnelled back to the NSW Liberal party.
“It would seem to us these actions were the result of inexperience,” Watson said of Cornwell. “There is no evidence that Mr Cornwell gave any preference to Mr McCloy.”
Tim Owen, who is a former top-ranking RAAF officer, announced in May that he would not be recontesting his seat in the 2015 election after being named by Icac.
While he claimed he had “no knowledge” of any funding irregularities in his 2011 election campaign, he conceded it was “highly likely” that prohibited donors had contributed to his campaign.
Cornwell’s office has been contacted for comment.
McCloy declined to comment on the allegations levelled against him. “I must wait until I have my turn in the box,” the Newcastle mayor told reporters. “You’ll hear my evidence in a few days.”
The Newcastle Greens councillor Michael Osborne said McCloy should stand aside as mayor during the investigation. “He should really do the right thing and stand aside so that Newcastle council doesn’t get tainted by this air of corruption,” he said.