Bridie Jabour theguardian.com, Thursday 20 March 2014
Prime minister confident former assistant treasurer will return after Icac inquiry runs its course
Arthur Sinodinos leaves the chamber on Wednesday after having stepped aside as assistant treasurer. Photograph: Lukas Coch
Arthur Sinodinos is a brave man who stood aside as assistant treasurer for the good of the government, Tony Abbott has said.
The prime minister continues to publicly support Sinodinos as evidence from the Independent Commission Against Corruption alleged he was involved in drafting a letter from then-NSW opposition leader Barry O’Farrell supporting a project which would have made Sinodinos a multimillionaire.
“Arthur, for the good of the government, made the decision to step aside until this matter is resolved as far as he is concerned. He did the right and honourable thing … I’m confident he will come back, but obviously it’s important the inquiry run its course,” Abbott told reporters in Canberra.
When asked what made him so confident Sinodinos would be resolved of any wrongdoing by Icac, Abbott replied: “I know Arthur Sinodinos very well. Most people around this building know him very well. He is a fundamentally decent man; I’m confident he will be able to return to his ministerial duties soon.
“I think Arthur did the absolutely right thing in standing down, as I said yesterday in the parliament. He is a good man; he is a brave man.”
Sinodinos stood aside as assistant treasurer on Wednesday after Labor pressured him over Icac’s investigation into Australian Water Holdings (AWH), of which Sinodinos was a director from 2008 until 2011 when he became a senator.
Evidence before Icac alleges that Sinodinos helped facilitate AWH chief executive Nick Di Girolamo to draft a letter for O’Farrell to send to then-premier Kristina Keneally supporting a public-private partnership with AWH which would have earned Sinodinos between $10m and $20m.
It is alleged that O’Farrell’s former chief-of-staff, Pete McConnell, met Sinodinos and Di Girolamo in 2010 and agreed Di Girolamo would draft a letter to be sent by O’Farrell to Keneally backing the proposal.
After O’Farrell became premier Di Girolamo sent a letter to him thanking him for his continued support on the public-private partnership, Icac heard.
Icac was told that then finance minister Greg Pearce also sent a letter to O’Farrell saying Sinodinos had proposed a meeting to discuss blocking Sydney Water from pursuing a public tender which would put AWH in competition with other companies for a lucrative contract.
During the hearing, evidence was tendered that Sinodinos suggested the chairman and managing director of Sydney Water sit down with the minister and AWH to discuss the proposed public tender but Pearce warned O’Farrell not to agree to such a meeting.
“The purpose of this letter is to convey my and Sydney Water’s views that such intervention and the requested meeting are inappropriate and should not be pursued by the government,” Pearce wrote.
Icac is not examining O’Farrell’s actions in relation to AWH and have made it clear it is not suspected he acted improperly.
Sinodinos was asked by journalists about his decision to stand aside and his involvement with AWH in Canberra on Thursday but refused to comment directly.
“Any comments I have will be for the commission. I respect the commission and its work,” he said.
The opposition is now trying to pressure Abbott over how much he knew about Sinodinos’s involvement with AWH.
Manager of opposition business, Tony Burke, said Abbott should explain why he had full confidence in Sinodinos on Tuesday but then allowed him to step aside on Wednesday.
“Arthur Sinodinos chose not to tell the Senate what it was that had changed [but] he certainly told the prime minister,” Burke told Sky News on Thursday.
“The prime minister took a completely different view yesterday to what he’d taken the day before, and I think the public is entitled to know why.”
Senior members of the government continue to support Sinodinos. Agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce said Sinodinos was facing trials and tribulations that almost every politician faces at some point in their career.
“I’ve never had a reason to talk to Arthur Sinodinos and think there’s something shifty,” he said.
Education minister and leader of the house, Christopher Pyne, said Sinodinos stepped aside so he would not be a distraction for the government.
“Can I say we are not going to be lectured by the Labor party on Arthur Sinodinos and on ministerial standards,” he said on Thursday morning.
“Tony Burke, Greg Combet, Steve Conroy, Doug Cameron, all of those people appeared before the Independent Commission Against Corruption in NSW to give evidence. We didn’t demand that any of them stand down from the frontbench, and Arthur Sinodinos didn’t need to stand down from the frontbench because of the fact that he is appearing as a witness at Icac.”
