Mood:
sharpTopic: nsw govt
PM - All eyes on Marrickville by-election Friday 16th Sept 2005
Good old Sam Haddad, competent bureaucrat, now DG of Department of Planning, previously called DIPNR as above, was wheeled out this morning for the NSW Govt just before 9am on abc 702.
He was rebutting Opposition Hazzard on 2GB with Alan Jones just before 8am re Heritage Council being monstered and folded into the DOP by Minister Sartor here in NSW - allegations of lost independence, developer undue influence, echoes of corruption, as per dirt down in Wollongong Council.
Haddad sounds very honest. But how honest is he? And has an honest man been compromised by his political master Sartor? Do good men do bad things?
Does Haddad have form?
Back in 2005 Haddad was a deputy director general, before he was promoted by Sartor, and he refused our FoI for a very sensitive Commision of Inquiry report into Port Botany expansion. But it was the way he refused the FoI that was most instructive. Our appeal was run down to the time limit and the opportunity to publicised the consequence of the Port expansion namely a secret $5 billion truck tunnel under Marrickville. This was a real and proximate threat to the byelection voters.
Frank Sartor cunningly then released the Port Inquiry report which had been mouldering for months given its adverse findings for the state government, with a perverse spin as if it favoured govt mega expansion 4 weeks AFTER the byelection: As per this media release:
Media Release - Minister's Office
Sydney: 14 October 2005
Haddad even signed the refusal letter some 3 days after it was prepared, itself only released as a result of our telephone complaints on lack of an answer up to the byelection deadline: We even had to go into the DIPNR office in Bridge St and defacto picket the office until we got our paper copy of the refusal letter at least revealing the cover up of the Cleland Report they said they "would put in the mail for me". Get it?
No Cleland commission report. No refusal letter until we stamped our feet and got it finally 12th Sept 2005, only 5 days before the vote. No evidence of a secret truck tunnel on the cards
'Secret' $5 billion tollway to tunnel under city | NEWS.com.au March 1 2007
until after the sensitive byelection delivering Carmel Tebbut from the upper house to her lower house ministerial perch, and fast track to promotion up in Cabinet:
A truck tunnel we in the green movement already knew must follow with the same smog stacks like the infamous M5 East now to poison Marrickville voters. A real vote changer in fact. So did Haddad deliberately squash both the report and the refusal letter as late as possible to help his political master Sartor?
Has Sam Haddad been politicised contrary to his 'honest broker' role on 702 this morning? You be the judge. We feel he has, but then that's just us.
