According to a report by the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption, former Liberal minister John Sidoti engaged in significant corruption.
The anti-corruption body looked into the Drummoyne MP, who is now independent, for his efforts to persuade council members to rezone plots in Sydney’s inner west where his family had property.
According to the investigation, “Mr. Sidoti engaged in substantial corrupt activity” between “about late 2013 and February 2017”.
The ICAC also decided that “considered should be taken to getting the Director of Public Prosecutions’ recommendation with regard to prosecuting Mr. Sidoti for the offense of misconduct in public office.”
The DPP is in charge of all prosecutions and decides if any criminal charges can be brought.
Chief Commissioner Peter Hall oversaw Operation Witney, which was presented to the NSW legislature on Wednesday.
It looked into whether Mr. Sidoti had abused his power to inappropriately sway Liberal council members on the City of Canada Bay Council (CCBC) in order to further the property interests of his family.
It was discovered that he engaged in “a protracted course of conduct” by trying to illegally influence” council members Helen McCaffrey, Mirjana Cestar, and Tanveer Ahmed while serving as the MP for Drummoyne.
The commission concluded that Mr. Sidoti intimidated and threatened council members in an effort to obstruct their impartial performance of their official duties in order to advance his family’s property interests.
Despite his insistence that he was acting in his constituents’ best interests, the report stated that “the outcomes that he wanted those councillors to deliver were entirely directed to his private interest in increasing the development potential of his family’s growing number of properties in and around the Five Dock town center.”
The ICAC discovered that the results he was advocating for were also at odds with what the CCBC had determined to be in the public interest based on recommendations from council staff and independent expert planning consultants “after considerable community outreach.”
By “representing that he was operating at all times in the interests of his constituents and the local community,” the ICAC ruled that he had violated the public trust.
In addition, Mr. Sidoti violated his duty under the ministerial code of conduct and the MPs’ code of conduct by failing to disclose his ownership stake in family properties from the time he first entered the legislature in March 2011 until April 4, 2017.
In order to improve the disclosure of financial and personal interests, the management and declaration of conflicts of interest for MPs, and “to address councillors’ governance obligations, particularly in relation to lobbying, conflicts of interest, and environmental planning issues,” ICAC made 15 recommendations for the prevention of corruption.
After the ICAC started its investigation in 2019, Mr. Sidoti stepped down as minister of sports. He later quit the Berejiklian administration cabinet in March 2021, just before the start of the public hearings.
Throughout the ICAC’s probe, he vehemently denied any wrongdoing.