Questions remain unanswered after New South Wales (NSW) Premier Chris Minns prompted the resignation of one of his ministers and referred the MP for possible corruption.
Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp will move to the back bench, and his future in the NSW Labor Party is under a cloud after he failed to declare property holdings while minister for the Hunter region.
The premier said he learned earlier this week Mr Crakanthorp’s wife and her parents owned a significant number of commercial real estate properties in the Hunter.
That prompted an order for the minister to formally detail all known private holdings held by family members.
After reporting those holdings and a potential breach of the ministerial code of conduct on Wednesday, the minister resigned and was referred by the premier to the state’s anti-corruption body.
Mr. Minns declined to reveal how he first learned of the property interests.
“That will be a matter to be investigated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption,” he told reporters in a snap press conference on Wednesday.
“I’m not trying to be coy or have intrigue in relation to those matters, but it’s important that they’re able to do that free of commentary from the government.
“If they communicate with us about their determination, I'll make that public.”
Mr. Crakanthorp’s rationale for not declaring the interest to the Cabinet Office and how it learned of the conflict remains unknown.
In a brief statement, he said he reported the code of conduct breach to the premier and resigned as minister.
The premier said he had concerns his minister “may have” acted in matters in which he had conflicts between his public duties and his private interests.
Should ICAC launch an investigation, he will be booted from the parliamentary Labor party, Mr. Minns said.
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said the premier must further detail the commercial real estate holdings, ministerial decisions potentially impacted by them and the future of those decisions.
“What we’ve seen in the first 129 days of this government through inexperience (and) arrogance is a failure to manage conflicts of interest properly,” he told reporters.
Breaches of the ministerial code, on their own, can be means for a finding of corrupt conduct by ICAC.
The anti-corruption commission in June found former premier Gladys Berejiklian had engaged in serious corrupt conduct by involving herself in decisions in Wagga while in a long-term romantic relationship with Wagga MP Daryl Maguire.
As a result of Mr. Crakanthorp’s resignation, Deputy Premier Prue Car will take the skills, TAFE and tertiary education and training portfolios, and Swansea MP Yasmin Catley will add the Hunter to her police and counter-terrorism portfolios.
