Orange Grove Affair - Corruption Allegations

Corruption Allegations

On 10 July 2004, Gazal, Orange Grove's owner, signed a statutory declaration alleging that he had been told by Labor member Joe Tripodi on 22 May that the retrospective approval would be denied by Beamer. Furthermore, he alleged that Tripodi had told him that Carr had directly instructed Beamer to reject the proposal after having contact with Westfield. In addition, Samir Bargshoon, a contract cleaner and friend of Gazal, signed a statutory declaration alleging that he had heard, on the same day, Tripodi say that Beamer had told him that Carr had instructed her not to sign the rezoning of the Liverpool designer outlets. Gazal's solicitor, Joseph D’Agostino, also signed a statutory declaration containing an allegation that Tripodi had indicated that the planning issue was being handled "at a higher level then (sic) himself." Mosca, the shopping centre's architect signed a statutory declaration alleging that Tripodi had said, in relation to the rezoning, "Carr rang Beamer and asked her to screw it over".

Gazal's allegations received substantial media attention, and led to both the state opposition and the Sydney tabloid The Daily Telegraph becoming involved. It subsequently emerged that the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources submission to Minister Beamer had supported the rezoning of the centre, due to the number of jobs that would be lost if it were to close. Then Opposition Leader, John Brogden, tabled a draft press release in parliament that would have announced Beamer's decision to support Kibble's proposal.

It also emerged that Mark Ryan, a senior Westfield lobbyist, had telephoned Graeme Wedderburn, the Premier's chief of staff, on April 15, 2003, two days after Kibble had publicly supported the rezoning. Wedderburn had then met Ryan and Craig Marshall, another Westfield executive, on April 19. Though Wedderburn strongly defended his actions, he also publicly admitted that Orange Grove had been the focus of these meetings. Premier Carr, Wedderburn and Beamer were all to face strong questioning from the media over alleged links between the two events.