Icac allegations: Mike Baird won't say if he has assurances from other ministers

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/02/icac-allegations-mike-baird-wont-say

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The New South Wales premier, Mike Baird, has refused to say whether he has assurances from his ministers that they will not be embroiled in an Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) inquiry after his police minister resigned over corruption allegations.

Baird said he was prepared to take any action necessary to clean up politics in NSW but is yet to name any specific policy to reform the governing of donations and lobbyists in relation to the Liberal party.

The NSW police minister, Mike Gallacher, resigned from the ministry and the parliamentary Liberal party on Friday after he was accused at Icac of involvement in corrupt dealing, but Gallacher said he was still not sure what the allegations were.

Baird would not say whether he had sought assurances from his ministers when he was selecting them that they had nothing to fear from Icac. His predecessor, Barry O’Farrell, resigned over giving inaccurate evidence to Icac about a $3,000 bottle of wine he was given.

“I’m not going to go into personal discussions, I’m not going to do that. What I will say is, in light of recent allegations that have come forward I have had discussions with the police minister and there was no option for him other than to resign,” Baird said in Canberra after attending his first Council of Australian Governments meeting.

Baird stopped short of saying he hoped the federal Liberal party would undertake reforms concerning donations and lobbyists but said he “obviously welcomed” working with the prime minister.

He would take every action necessary to clean up NSW politics but when asked to name a specific action he replied: “I said we will be making announcements in due course. I’ve said I’m concerned about donations, I’m concerned about lobbyists, there’s actions that need to be taken in that space but I will not do policy on the run.”

Baird said he would wait for the Icac inquiry to finish before announcing any reforms.

When asked if he would consider freezing donations to the NSW Liberal party until he was sure all of the money was “squeaky clean”, Baird said: “We are not going to do anything that jeopardises the trust of the people of NSW. [NSW Liberal party director] Tony Knutt is going through in forensic detail … He is a good man in the right spot at the right time and he will take every action possible.”

Baird said he had not set an initial timeline for Knutt to report to him but he was doing so in “due haste”.

Gallacher gave a press conference soon after Baird and said he resigned so the Liberal party would not be distracted leading into an election next year.

He said as leader of the party in the upper house he had to take decisive action and resigning was the right thing to do.

“I don’t even know what the allegation is. All I’ve heard this morning is I have had a corrupt longstanding relationship,” he said.

“I’m yet to see what the allegation is but I don’t intend to have the premier and parliamentary team diverted by this.”

Gallacher said he spent his entire professional life fighting corruption and crime and he was “disappointed” in the way the allegation had been made.

He has been summoned to give evidence at Icac.

The attorney general, Brad Hazzard, will act as minister for police and emergency services until a new minister is appointed.