News - 13 August 2009 - to the Privileges Committee
Cliffe affair headed to privileges committee
BY ROBERT TAYLOR Sate Political Editor
Claims that Colin Barnett used his position as an MP to benefit his businessman son Russell when he pushed for historic Peppermint Grove house The Cliffe to be removed from The State’s Heritage Register will be investigated by the parliamentary privileges committee.
Amid Rowdy scenes in Parliament yesterday, the Government decided not to oppose the Opposition motion to send the allegations to the committee after they were first sent to Assembly Speaker Grant Woodhams by the Corruption and Crime Commission.
The substance of the allegation, by Sydney man and Save The Cliffe campaigner Brian Waldron, is that Mr Barnett led the charge to have the house re-registered because its owner, mining entrepreneur Mark Creasy, was the major shareholder in a company run by Russell Barnett.The committee can call Mr Barnett, his son, Mr Creasy and Mr Waldron to give evidence.
An angry Mr Barnett told Parliament that the complaints had been made my fans of the former rock band the Triffids, whose lead singer David McComb grew up in the house. “
This has been driven by a group of people who are fans, friends, associates of the Triffids,” Mr Barnett said. “
Good luck to them if they think the Triffids were so good and good luck to them if they want to re-release the records. But that does not give them the right to accuse me of basically criminal conduct, or my son, or Mark Creasy.
“It does not give them the right to do that and this Parliament does itself no good service to give credibility to those sort of claims.”
But the Government supported the move to send the matter to the committee after three MPs who support the Liberal-Nationals alliance indicated they would cross the floor to vote with the Opposition.
After a torrid four-hour debate, Opposition Leader Eric Ripper said while he could understand the Premier’s anxiety about members of his family, the Parliament could not ignore an allegation referred to it by the CCC.
“We haven’t asked a question in question time about this, we haven’t brought on a matter of public interest (debate) on the matter, we haven’t taken any other action than action in response to the fact that the CCC has placed something on the table of this House.” Mr Ripper said.
“We have done that because we at least believe there’s a public interest in the institution of Parliament being seen to properly resolve a matter like this.”
Mr Ripper said the Premier has been shown to have a “glass jaw” on the issue.
The committee consists of three Government and two Labor MPs, including chairman Mr Woodhams, a National MP who said last night that he hoped to convene the committee as soon as possible but could not say whether all the hearing would be in public.
The role of former heritage minister Michelle Roberts in the de-registering will also be examined by the committee.
Earlier yesterday, Mrs Roberts explained why she had not recommended the State compulsorily acquire the property under the Heritage Act.
“Given that there are so many government-owned buildings in disrepair I would have thought that the general public would find it very, very strange that government would suddenly get in the business of buying private property and restoring them,” she said.
