Bridie Jabour theguardian.com, Wednesday 19 March 2014

Former PM joins ranks of colleagues backing assistant treasurer following claims in NSW corruption inquiry

John Howard has spoken in support of Arthur Sinodinos. Photograph: Mark Graham/AP

Labor has called for Arthur Sinodinos to stand aside, but the assistant treasurer’s Coalition colleagues continue to strongly back him, with the former prime minister John Howard calling him a man of “great integrity”.

Sinodinos has been called as a witness in the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) hearing into Australian Water Holdings (AWH), of which Sinodinos was a director for for three years before he entered the Senate.

Labor moved to suspend standing orders in the Senate at 9.30am on Wednesday to call on Sinodinos to fully explain his involvement in the company, but he did not stand in the chamber.

Howard joined other members of the Liberal party who have been strong in their defence of the senator, releasing a statement on Wednesday morning.

“Arthur Sinodinos is a man of great integrity and ability,” he said. “I continue to hold him in the highest regard. As he has indicated, he will answer questions at the Icac inquiry. It is not appropriate that I comment on the substance of the matter.”

During the debate, the attorney general, George Brandis, called Sinodinos “one of the greatest Australians to participate in public life”.

The leader of the opposition in the Senate, Penny Wong, set another deadline of noon for Sinodinos to appear before the Senate but he did not make a statement.

“Icac has made a number of statements which really fly in the face of assertions Senator Sinodinos made to chamber. It is the case the Independent Commission Against Corruption is investigating, we accept that, but we also believe senators in this place when confronted with public allegations which are not consistent with statements made to chamber should clarify their statements,” she said.

Brandis and the leader of the government in the Senate, Eric Abetz, led a spirited defence of Sinodinos, who was not in the chamber.

Icac has heard Sinodinos was made a director of AWH as a link to the Liberal party, was paid $200,000 for 100 hours’ work a year and stood to make between $10m and $20m if the company won a lucrative state government contract.

“Let us not forget the man who this disgraceful smear is being made against, Arthur Sinodinos, is one of the greatest Australians to participate in public life over the last two decades,” Brandis said.

“There has been no allegation of wrongdoing made by anyone against Senator Arthur Sinodinos. The Labor party have been seeking to smear by innuendo, guilt by association, seeking to smear the reputation of this very decent Australian. There has been no allegation of wrongdoing made against Arthur Sinodinos, Senator Sinodinos is a witness in proceedings by Icac.”

Abetz attacked Wong, saying he would like her to make a statement about her activities as an official in the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy union (CFMEU), but because that was before she entered the Senate he would not request it.

“As important as Senator Wong is, she ain’t as important as Icac and Icac is the proper place for evidence to be provided and that’s what Senator Sinodinos will do,” he said.

The Liberal party has returned $75,000 donated by AWH, which claimed the money as expenses from the state-owned Sydney Water in 2008. Sinodinos has said he was unaware of the donation at the time it was made.

Wong has questioned how Sinodinos was not aware of the donation when he was an office bearer of the Liberal party and AWH at the time and has said it is one of the things he needed to explain.

Sinodinos made a brief statement to the Senate on Tuesday, saying he would be vindicated by Icac.

He previously made a statement to the Senate about his time at AWH, saying he was not aware of the Obeid family links to AWH when he became a director.

“Obviously, I was shocked and disappointed to learn that a company whose mission I believed in and was passionate about was financially linked to the Obeid family,” he said, though he said he could not recall when he found out about the financial links.

“I believe that should have been disclosed to me at the time. I had no reason to suspect any such involvement, but it should have been disclosed.”

He said he did not recall political donations by AWH being discussed at board level and they were handled by the company’s management.

“My understanding of the relevant funding and disclosure laws is that companies are able to make donations, and political parties are able to receive them,” he said.

He said donations to the NSW Liberal party were a matter for the secretariat.

“I have often contemplated: what is the cost of being in public life? But the cost of being in public life is, where possible, to make full and frank disclosure,” Sinodinos said.

Arthur Sinodinos is a man of great integrity, says John Howard | World news | theguardian.com