Former New South Wales Liberal minister John Sidoti has said he will fight to clear his name after being found to have engaged in “serious corrupt conduct” to benefit his family’s property interests by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
The anti-corruption watchdog recommended that the Director of Public Prosecutions consider whether the independent Drummoyne MP should be charged with misconduct in public office.
The NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, called on Sidoti to resign from parliament over the findings saying there was “no place for corruption in the NSW parliament”.
The commission found Sidoti had used his official role as a member of parliament to try to “improperly influence” Liberal City of Canada Bay councillors in relation to properties in Five Dock between late 2013 and early 2017.
He has denied the allegations against him, and the rezoning he had allegedly sought did not go ahead.
On Wednesday evening Sidoti made plain his intent to fight the findings.
“Icac did not interview the people at crucial meetings to support what I had stated,” he said.
“They failed to chase down exculpatory evidence. This report has a number of unfounded inferences, errors and assumptions, and its findings are completely rejected.
“I will continue to fight to clear my name and have instructed my lawyers to lodge an application in the supreme court.”
Sidoti said Icac had interviewed “disgruntled” Liberal members and taken complaints from a nongovernment majority upper house inquiry to conclude that he had engaged in corrupt conduct.
Earlier in the day, Perrottet said he had contacted Sidoti and asked him to resign.
“I have contacted Mr Sidoti to inform him that I believe he should resign from the parliament,” Perrottet said in a statement.
“Should Mr Sidoti not resign, the NSW government will move a motion to have him suspended. The NSW government has also sought legal advice in relation to this matter.”
The opposition leader, Chris Minns, supported the call and confirmed Labor would support a motion to suspend him if he did not resign.
Sidoti said he would not resign, telling Nine News: “I’m going to fight this all the way. I’m not going anywhere.”
The findings were made public on Wednesday after public hearings in April 2021 that investigated whether Sidoti had misused his position as a member of parliament, as well as any possible breaches of public trust by failing to disclose pecuniary interests.
“The commission found that Mr Sidoti engaged in serious corrupt conduct by, between approximately late 2013 and February 2017, engaging in a protracted course of conduct, involving the use of his official position as a member of parliament,” the report said.
“Despite his representations that he was acting at all times in the interests of his constituents … the outcomes that he wanted those councillors to deliver were entirely directed to his private interest in increasing the development potential of his family’s growing number of properties in and around the Five Dock town centre.”
The Icac found Sidoti tried to influence councillors Helen McCaffrey, Mirjana Cestar and Tanveer Ahmed to adopt and advance certain positions in Five Dock that would benefit his family’s property interests.
Sidoti was dumped from the frontbench more than a year ago, while the Icac made initial inquiries. He moved to the crossbench before last year’s hearings.
Despite Sidoti’s evidence during the Icac’s public hearings being unable to be used against him in criminal proceedings, the commission believed there would be other admissible evidence that could be used if charges were laid.
“The commission is of the opinion that consideration should be given to obtaining the advice of the DPP with respect to the prosecution of Mr Sidoti for the offence of misconduct in public office,” the report said.
The Icac also made 15 recommendations in the report, including changes to the way members of parliament are trained about the improper exercise of power and undue influence, in line with findings made in the investigation.
