Whoever had altered the original minute of the cabinet to reverse the negative recommendation had used software to delete the metadata and history of the document so that the authors of the changes could not be detected. But ICAC investigators were on the trail.
As public hearings on AWH unfolded throughout 2014, more startling details emerged about the allegedly altered document.
Tony Kelly joined the ICAC in 2014 to testify about a minute of the allegedly manipulated cabinet. Credit: Nick Moir
One morning in the witness room in April 2014, Kelly admitted that he signed the minutes of the cabinet in favor of the company linked to the Obeids, but said that the minutes were drafted by his then Labor colleague Joe Tripodi.
“Do you accept that the minutes of the cabinet you signed contained very misleading information?” asked the attorney assisting Geoffrey Watson, SC.
Kelly admitted the cabinet minute “could have contained more information.”
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He also told the investigation that although Tripod had arrived unannounced on his farm the year before, Kelly invited him because “that’s what the people in the countryside do.”
He stated that while his former colleague was willing to talk about a new interest in “alfalfa cultivation”, most of the talk was about what his former parliamentary colleagues were doing after politics.
Kelly claimed that only one or two minutes of her half-hour conversation referred to the cabinet minute.
Tripod, he remembered, said to her, “What memory do you have of it, do you know how the minute of the cabinet arises?”
Kelly said she replied, “Well, my memory is that you and [staffers] Laurie [Brown]Claudia [Certoma] and you put it together yourself. “
From left, lawyer Nick di Girolamo, Moses Obeid, Eddie Obeid jnr, lawyer Tim Breene (back) and Paul Obeid in the Supreme Court for their unsuccessful battle against the ICAC. Credit: Peter Rae
Brown told the consultation that Eddie Obeid gave him the phone number of Nick Di Girolamo, executive director of AWH. He said he only spoke to Di Girolamo once, but records indicated that between March and July 2010 there had been seven phone calls and several meetings between the couple.
Di Girolamo, a lawyer, has since represented members of the Obeid family.
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The investigation also learned that the minute changes had been made to the computer of Claudia Certoma, who had been Tripodi’s political adviser before joining Kelly’s office. Certoma accepted that Tripod had been “helping” AWH and that it was likely that Kelly and Brown had ordered the rewrite of the minute.
In his trial, Tripod denied any involvement in the minute the cabinet was manipulated. He stated that he had only provided Kelly’s staff with some draft notes he had from his time as a former infrastructure minister. He also stated that he had no idea that the Obeids had an interest in AWH.
“On one occasion, I said, ‘Eddie, you and your family have no business interest in this?’ He said, ‘No, no, [Eddie Obeid] Junior is helping Australian Water in Queensland, ”Tripodi recalled.
And as for the reason his phone went off during his entire lightning trip to Wellington and back, Tripod said to the consultation, “Um, my, my phone, let me think about it. My phone was off that day, but no, I was actually in the car.I remember it was, I remember it was a problem driving out there because I didn’t have mine, I thought I didn’t have my phone, I was in the car in the car seat. behind and it was off, yes. “
While her LinkedIn profile indicates that Kelly is a farmer specializing in “lanterns and vegetables,” local council sources indicate the former planning minister has been working as a “development consultant.” One of his clients is Traders in Purple, a real estate developer led by George Geagea and Charles Daoud. Together with the NSW Land and Housing Corporation, the company has a $ 112 million housing project, Kamira Court, in Villawood.
In June 2021, Kelly registered a company called LETMETHINKABOUTIT.
He and the other three men have each been charged with a felony of misconduct in public office in connection with the alleged curation of the cabinet record. The cases are set to go to Downing Center Local Court on August 25, at which time it will be known whether the men intend to defend the charges.
Herald calls to Tripod and Kelly on Tuesday went unanswered.
With Amelia McGuire
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