from Politicoz …..

ICAC explodes on NSW Liberals …..

In a new inquiry, ICAC heard yesterday that the Liberal Party is alleged to have received donations of at least $165,000 from property developers, who have been banned from donating to any political party in NSW since 2009, by funnelling cash through established party fundraising entities.

Established in 1988 by the incoming Coalition government of Nick Greiner to inquire into recent Labor governments, it was assumed that ICAC would operate as a star chamber into the ALP. But its major scalps have been Liberals: premier Barry O'Farrell, assistant treasurer and former John Howard chief of staff Arthur Sinodinos, and Greiner himself (though he was later cleared). As a result, ICAC is now being heavily criticised by conservative commentators, though they were cheering when it was investigating former NSW ALP minister Eddie Obeid.

The Greens are calling for the ICAC model to go national. As Victorian premier Denis Napthine this week faces questions over a land transaction involving a businessman with whom he co-owns a race horse, that proposal surely deserves consideration.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal political donations were used to bankroll the Liberal Party's 2011 state election campaign after being funnelled through slush funds linked to former minister Chris Hartcher and fund-raiser Paul Nicolaou, a corruption inquiry has heard.

Also: NSW Liberals not ready for ICAC shock (Neil Chenoweth, Australian Financial Review

And: How Australian Water Holdings morphed from public service venture to five-year extravaganza (Geoff Winestock, Business Review Weekly)