A New South Wales parliamentary committee has referred the NSW Premier Chris Minns to the state's corruption watchdog over his relationship with one of the key figures in the re-development of Rosehill Racecourse. The Premier has dismissed the referral as "disgraceful" and says the allegations are "completely unsubstantiated".
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00:00This allegation or referral to the Independent Commission Against Corruption deals with Chris
00:08Minns' relationship to Steve McMahon, who's from the Australian Turf Club.
00:12Now, Steve McMahon initially pitched the idea of the Rose Hill redevelopment in which the
00:17government would buy the racecourse in Western Sydney, a very large area off the Australian
00:22Turf Club, and then redevelop it into 25,000 homes.
00:26That would be near a Western Sydney metro station, and as a result go in some way to
00:31abating what is a housing crisis in the Greater Sydney area.
00:35The Parliamentary Committee looking at this development, which it is worth noting is dominated
00:40by four crossbench members of New South Wales Parliament, as well as three members of the
00:46Opposition, two members of the Liberal Party, one of the National Party, and then just three
00:50members of the Labor Party.
00:52So the Labor Party, who are the governing party of New South Wales, heavily outweighed
00:55on this, and the Parliamentary Committee, concerned about this relationship between
00:59Steve McMahon and Chris Minns, which is a friendship that extends beyond 20 years, referred
01:05it to the ICAC.
01:06Now, it is worth noting that referrals to the ICAC don't necessarily lead to investigations.
01:11Chris Minns released a statement last night detailing his strong rebuke of the investigation
01:17thus far, indeed saying that he believed that it was an unsubstantiated claim that had been
01:23put forward.
01:24He said there's absolutely no evidence or even an attempt to quantify what rule, practice
01:28or procedure has been breached.
01:30This is an old-fashioned smear from a group of politicians opposed to changes at Rose
01:35Hill.
01:36Now, as for what happens next, this referral may go nowhere.
01:40That's a decision for the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
01:42The ICAC will assess whether or not it's worth investigation.
01:46If there's an investigation, then obviously it will go further.
01:49In the meantime, though, there have been already some members of the Government backing in
01:53the Premier saying that parliamentary committees should not be using any referral to the ICAC
01:57for political gain and that they really should be scrutinising whatever matter is before
02:02them.
02:03Now, as for the scrutiny that is to come, there is a report into the Rose Hill redevelopment
02:07due tomorrow and, of course, if it does eventually go to a vote about whether or not the Australian
02:12Turf Club should sell the racecourse to the Government, that could take place in April
02:17next year when the members hold a two-day meeting, potentially, to vote on whether or
02:21not they should sell this land to the Government.