Eddie Obeid escapes prosecution over corrupt Australian Water Holdings deal
Disgraced former NSW minister Eddie Obeid has dodged an investigation for his alleged role in a water deal that the Independent Commission Against Corruption found was corrupt after charges were withdrawn on the eve of his third trial.
Obeid was accused of abuse of public office in 2022, along with two other former Labor ministers, Joe Tripodi and Tony Kelly.
Obeid was accused of concealing his financial interests in Australian Water Holdings (AWH), which was seeking a lucrative public-private partnership with Sydney Water. Tripodi and Kelly were accused of altering cabinet minutes to further the company’s cause. The trio pleaded not guilty and would face separate trials.
Obeid’s District Court trial was due to begin on April 28 but during Wednesday’s hearing the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions dropped a charge of misconduct in a public office against the 82-year-old.
The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office was contacted for comment.
Charges against Tripodi and Kelly related to the AWH deal were dropped in December. Tripodi, who is expected to be tried on this charge in March, will be tried on a separate charge of misconduct in public office in October.
Kelly, the former minister for planning, land and infrastructure, was tried in October on charges of misconduct in public office but was dismissed after the jury failed to reach a verdict.
The Crown had alleged that Kelly submitted an amended report to cabinet in May 2010 that was likely to benefit AWH, against the advice of an expert panel.
The jury’s hanging verdict came after the Crown’s star witness, Kelly’s former chief of staff, Gilbert “Laurie” Brown, told the court, “I don’t remember anything about anything.”
In 2022, Brown entered guilty pleas along with Obeid, Tripodi, and Kelly, but was offered compensation against prosecution in exchange for testifying against the others in 2023.
Brown arrived at court in a wheelchair, claiming that serious health problems had damaged his memory and that he could not remember anything about the case or provide evidence to the ICAC.
ICAC made corruption findings against three former ministers and Brown in 2017 over AWH’s plans to partner with Sydney Water to meet infrastructure demands in Sydney’s growing north-west region.
“Mr. Kelly knowingly and improperly acted in accordance with what he understood to be the wishes of Edward Obeid Sr..” The observer’s report said that.
Obeid was released from prison last August after serving three years and ten months on a separate charge of conspiracy to commit public misconduct in connection with the granting of coal exploration licenses for which his family received $30 million in benefits.
to follow someone reporter In January, the NSW Crime Commission froze the property assets of Obeid Corporation Pty Ltd following an investigation that found an Obeid family trust concealed a $30 million stake in the Bankstown development.
The commission is trying to recover an estimated $30 million that the Obeid family earned from the corrupt coal deal for which Obeid was imprisoned.
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Ben Cubby is an investigative reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect with: X or email.
