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NSW MP Andrew Cornwell will leave politics following Icac revelations | NSW MP Andrew Cornwell will leave politics following Icac revelations |
(about 2 hours later) | |
A once-rising NSW Liberal star has spectacularly announced his resignation from politics after revelations he received $20,000 from developers. | |
Andrew Cornwell, who represents Charlestown in the state’s Lake Macquarie region, said on Friday he was quitting parliament at the March election a day after giving evidence at the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac). | |
“I have decided that I will not contest the next state election,” he said in a statement. “Today I tendered my resignation from the Liberal party of Australia (NSW Division).” | |
Cornwell has also sought parliamentary leave, saying the Icac matters had “significantly impacted” his family. | |
“While I take full responsibility for my own actions, I need to care for my family during this time,” he said. | |
The MP has endured a career-crushing week at the corruption watchdog. | |
He has admitted to receiving $10,000 in a brown paper bag in a Bentley from property developer and now Newcastle Mayor Jeff McCloy in the lead-up to the 2011 election. | |
Cornwell then handed the money to a Liberal party branch member who allegedly funnelled it back to the NSW Liberal party. This is despite political donations from developers being banned in NSW since 2009. | |
He also confessed to using $10,000 from the sham sale of a Rex Newell painting to a property developer to pay his payroll tax bill. The average price for Newell’s work is $288 and the biggest sale he has made is $1500. | |
Cornwell, who is a vet, was once seen as a promising Liberal MP with a bright political future. He entered parliament in 2011 and was promoted by premier Mike Baird to government whip in his May reshuffle. | |
He now joins a growing list of NSW Liberals who will bow out of politics at the next election thanks to damaging revelations at the ICAC. | |
This year, the commission has claimed the scalps of Newcastle MP Tim Owen, who is a former top-ranking RAAF officer, and Central Coast MPs Darren Webber and Chris Spence, who are all quitting at the March poll. | |
The commission has also claimed the premiership of Barry O’Farrell, forced Mike Gallacher to relinquish his police ministry and relegated two more MPs to the cross bench. | |
In March, Liberal powerbroker Arthur Sinodinos stepped down as federal assistant treasurer over his dealings with controversial company, Australian Water Holdings. |
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