Anne Davies March 27, 2013
Evidence on cabinet protocols: former premier Nathan Rees. Photo: Ben Rushton
''Della's [John Della Bosca's] pet crocodile'' and ''Eddie Obeid's left testicle'' were two of the nicknames used by Labor colleagues to refer to the former primary industries minister Ian Macdonald's treachery towards the Left, a senior factional figure, Luke Foley, told the corruption watchdog yesterday.
Mr Foley, a former Left assistant secretary of the NSW Labor Party and now a member of the NSW Upper House, was giving evidence to the Independent Commission Against Corruption about his attempts in 2006 to strip Mr Macdonald of his pre-selection for the NSW Upper House.
The commission is investigating Mr Macdonald's decision to grant a coal exploration licence to a group of investors, including former mining union boss John Maitland, at Doyles Creek in the Hunter, in 2008 without tender and against departmental advice.
"Agent and operative" of Eddie Obeid: Ian Macdonald. Photo: Rob Homer
Mr Foley said that in 2006 he had received a ''chorus of complaints'' about Mr Macdonald's conduct and there were growing doubts about his loyalty to the Left.
Mr Foley said Mr Macdonald was supposedly a member of the hard Left, a sub-faction of the Left. But he personally had no doubt where Mr Macdonald's loyalties lay: ''He was an agent and operative of [Right power broker] Eddie Obeid and the Terrigal group.
''Well, one of Ian Macdonald's nicknames was bestowed by [former premier] Bob Carr, that he was Della's pet crocodile; another nickname was that he was Obeid's left testicle. I had formed the view that Mr Macdonald had abandoned Labor principle, had lost his moral compass and was not deserving of continued Labour pre-selection for Parliament.''
Mr Foley delivered his scathing assessment to Mr Macdonald at a lunch in February 2006 at the Noble House Restaurant attended by senior Left figures, including federal MP Anthony Albanese, the then national secretary of the Amalgamated Metal Workers Union, Doug Cameron, and then senator George Campbell. The AMWU was highly influential in the hard Left.
Mr Campbell backed Mr Foley, telling him Mr Macdonald's 20 years in Parliament was enough, and a further term taking him to 28 years was more than enough, but Mr Cameron backed Mr Macdonald.
According to Mr Foley, Mr Macdonald told the lunch that he had a great desire to go to the Beijing Olympics and had some personal financial issues in that he still had to support his stepdaughter.
He also claimed the unqualified support of the mining union which was headed by Mr Maitland.
Mr Foley said on that basis, the realpolitik was that Mr Macdonald had support to continue in Parliament, though an agreement was eventually struck that he would retire in 2009. This did not occur.
Earlier, former premier Nathan Rees told ICAC his ministers were expected to bring decisions that had a major impact on revenue, such as whether to forgo a multimillion-dollar upfront payment for a coal licence, to cabinet.
Mr Rees said the rule for cabinet ministers was that they should not allow themselves to be wined and dined by interests who had an issue before them.
