Former Liberal Minister John Sidoti says his erstwhile parliamentary colleagues are afraid to make the Independent Commission Against Corruption “fair”, saying he warned the integrity body would “come and bite other people” ahead of a blockbuster inquiry later this month.
In his first court hearing since the ICAC found the former Drummoyne MP engaged in serious corrupt conduct, Sidoti scored an early victory, defeating the NSW Director of Public Prosecution’s application seeking to impose conditions on his bail.
Speaking outside the Downing Centre on Thursday morning, Sidoti referenced his final speech in parliament, saying his warning that the ICAC “would come and bite other people is entirely correct”, and that none of his parliamentary colleagues were “prepared to make the system fair”.
“Nobody will ever change the [ICAC] Act because it’ll be seen politically as watering down the system,” he said.
“I’m not about watering down the system. We need a strong ICAC; a strong democratic process. But the idea that you could throw allegations at someone, take the head off a politician … a senior member of government. Everyone just walks away, and I can never even comment.”
Sidoti’s criticism comes just weeks before a separate ICAC inquiry into the Liberal Party begins. The Operation Rosny probe will examine whether people associated with the party used illegal donations from disgraced property developer Jean Nassif and his company Toplace to recruit party members or renew their memberships.
The potential breadth of the corruption inquiry, which begins just eight months before the state election, has unnerved many in the NSW Liberal Party. Liberal elder Damien Tudehope quit the party’s frontbench earlier this month, saying his involvement as a witness in the hearings could become an “unnecessary distraction” for his colleagues.
Sidoti, who resigned from the Liberal Party in 2021 after the ICAC announced the public inquiry into him, took aim at the media for publishing what he said were unfounded allegations against him without giving him a fair right of reply.
“Justice delayed is justice denied. Five years I’ve been waiting for this day,” he said.
“I was tried by media – Google ‘John Sidoti’ and see what comes of it. I’ve had to live like that for the last five years. It’s not pleasant, let me tell you. Not for your family, not for your children. It’s just wrong. Presumption of innocence and the rule of law – that should apply.”
The DPP charged Sidoti with misconduct in public office on July 7, nearly four years after the corruption watchdog found he had engaged in serious corrupt conduct by trying to improperly influence Liberal City of Canada Bay councillors to benefit his family’s property holdings. It recommended the DPP consider criminal charges.
Sidoti has always denied the allegations.
On Thursday, prosecutors sought to impose two conditions on Sidoti’s bail, including forbidding him from contacting potential witnesses. His barrister, Daniel Grippi, successfully challenged the application, saying there was no evidence Sidoti had ever tried to interfere with potential witnesses.
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Max Maddison is a state political reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.From our partners
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
