Corruption Matters - October 2022 | Issue 60
Operation Witney - NSW state member for Drummoyne found corrupt
In July 2022, the ICAC released its report on the Investigation into the conduct of the local Member for Drummoyne in July 2022 (known as Operation Witney, available here).
The ICAC’s key finding was that the state member for Drummoyne, John Sidoti, engaged in serious corrupt conduct by engaging in a protracted course of conduct, involving the use of his official position as a member of Parliament and the local member for Drummoyne, to try to improperly influence City of Canada Bay Liberal councillors to adopt and advance certain positions in relation to the Five Dock town centre that would benefit his family’s property interests in the area.
The investigation involved potential rezoning and amendments to development controls of certain areas in the Five Dock town centre. Five Dock is a suburb located within the City of Canada Bay Council (CCBC) local government area and the Drummoyne electorate. Before the commencement of the Five Dock town centre study, Mr Sidoti’s family owned property within the Five Dock town centre boundaries.
The Five Dock Urban Design Study considered the boundaries of the town centre and issues such as zoning and a range of other development controls. While it was on public exhibition, Mr Sidoti attended and addressed the Five Dock Chamber of Commerce meeting on 7 April 2014 in his capacity as a local member. Mr Sidoti addressed the meeting and advocated for an increase in the floor space ratio controls which was directed at benefiting the property owned by his family. Mr Sidoti subsequently sent emails to the CCBC Liberal councillors, including urging them to take a “united stance” at an upcoming council meeting that would consider the Five Dock Urban Design Study and to “deliver the vision of the shopkeepers”. There is no evidence before the ICAC that Mr Sidoti ever disclosed that he was, in fact, advocating for a change that would benefit his family’s property interests.
Mr Sidoti also exerted subsequent pressure on the Liberal councillors by:
- maligning aspects of the Urban Design Study and falsely accusing CCBC staff of making misleading statements about it
- misrepresenting the concerns of the local business community, or “shopkeepers”, about the Urban Design Study and urging them to better represent their shared constituents and deliver their “vision”
- engaging in persistent email and telephone communication and initiating meetings with them before every meeting at which the relevant planning matters were due to come before council
- advocating for planning outcomes that he represented reflected the concerns and feedback of unspecified constituents, but which in fact benefited his family’s property interests
- directing their attendance at meetings and berating them for non-attendance
- suggesting their positions on CCBC could be threatened if they did not advance the positions he urged them to adopt and advance.
Corruption prevention
The ICAC’s report addressed a number of important corruption prevention themes.
The ICAC recommended that members of Parliament be required to disclose their interests in trusts, including discretionary trusts and self-managed superannuation funds. This should include disclosure of real property held by discretionary trusts and the interests of immediate family members (noting that there should be an option to limit access to certain information for privacy reasons).
The ICAC also found that “… it is highly likely that a failure by public officials to recognise, disclose and manage conflicts of interest contributes significantly to a loss of public confidence in the public sector”. To address this concern, the ICAC recommended that:
- the code of conduct for members of Parliament incorporates a clear definition of a conflict of interest
- members’ conflicts of interest be recorded and made available on a register
- members be provided with additional guidance on how to avoid, resolve and disclose conflicts.
The ICAC’s report also found that Mr Sidoti’s contact with the Liberal councillors concerning his family’s private interests was excessive and beyond what was afforded to other stakeholders. Witnesses described his in-person and electronic representations as “intrusive”, “frequent”, “a consistent barrage”, “unusually regular and consistent”, “continual” and “relentless”.
Consequently, the ICAC recommended that local councillors be provided with additional guidance in relation to the management of interactions with lobbyists.
Finally, the ICAC identified that the requirements for councillors to disclose pecuniary interests are confined to official meetings because these are the only forums in which councillors exercise any formal decision-making functions. However, the investigation showed that a conflicted councillor can still exercise a variety of informal functions, such as participating in workshops and discussions with development proponents. The ICAC recommended that where a councillor is prohibited from voting on a matter due to a conflict of interest, they should also be prevented from participating in relevant informal or unofficial activities.
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