The corruption watchdog has revealed the Labor member for Newcastle, Tim Crakanthorp, committed a ‘substantial breach’ of ministerial rules. The full ICAC report into the former minister for the Hunter, found that MP knew he had a conflict of interest, relating to his in laws property portfolio. But there was no finding of corruption. However, that has not stopped calls for Tim Crakanthorp to resign from parliament.
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00:00 Contrite, but concise.
00:04 It is clear that I should have done more, and for that I'm deeply regretful.
00:10 Tim Crackenthorpe has admitted to a substantial breach of the rules that govern MPs,
00:15 but today he wasn't in the mood for questions.
00:18 Tim, how are you able to win back public trust?
00:21 Oh, I was just giving a statement, sorry.
00:28 The Newcastle MP was stripped of his portfolios and referred to the corruption watchdog in August
00:34 after admitting in Parliament he'd failed to declare some of his in-laws' properties.
00:39 They're scattered across Newcastle, with several in Broadmeadow, an area set for major redevelopment.
00:46 As the new Minister for the Hunter, the ICAC found Mr Crackenthorpe held meetings about that project,
00:52 while knowing he had a conflict.
00:55 They have found that there's been a breach of the public trust in relation to his failure to disclose conflicts of interest.
01:02 In those circumstances, Mr Crackenthorpe should resign now from Parliament.
01:07 But the report didn't find the breaches amounted to corruption,
01:11 because the MP only attended a limited number of meetings,
01:14 and there is no evidence of any adverse impact on the public interest.
01:19 The ICAC found Mr Crackenthorpe was aware of his duty to declare conflicts of interest,
01:24 but failed to do so.
01:26 It also found it took him more than 13 weeks and multiple attempts to fully disclose the Newcastle property portfolio.
01:34 Mr Crackenthorpe won't be resigning.
01:37 Now this report is done, I will continue to represent my community to the best of my ability.
01:44 And the Premier will allow him to stay in the party room, albeit on the backbench.
01:49 I think he's got a long road to hoe in relation to his own constituents, and rebuilding trust with them in particular.
01:58 It's another three years until Newcastle voters can pass judgement at the ballot box.
02:04 [BLANK_AUDIO]