Oldmate Eddie Obeid, who has dominated headlines over the past few years thanks to an ICAC inquiry exposing his behaviour while serving as a NSW Labor MP, has been found guilty of misconduct in public office. He’s pretty likely to serve some prison time for it.
Basically, Obeid was found guilty of some dodgy dealings down at Circular Quay in Sydney. He lobbied deputy chief executive of the state maritime authority for preferential treatment on some harbourside cafes which – surprise, surprise – he and his family had stakes in.
The prosecution alleged that Obeid himself had been passed cash in brown paper bags, which is not so farfetched when you realise that this is kinda how politics is done in New South Wales nowadays. But it’s getting better, or so we’re told.
There’s no maximum jail term for this kind of hullabaloo, but it seems pretty likely that the ballpark figure is 10 to 14 years. Whether Obeid will serve anything even close to that remains to be seen, but either way he’ll be sentenced at a later date.
Special shoutout here to Sydney Morning Herald investigative journo Kate McClymont, who did a majority of the legwork in exposing the deeply, deeply suss business relationships Obeid maintained while he was in power. You can sense that feeling in this tweet:
Guilty! He Who Must Be Obeid has been found guilty of misconduct in public office #ICAC https://t.co/RudUunftva
— Kate McClymont (@Kate_McClymont) June 28, 2016
Source: Sydney Morning Herald.
Photo: Getty Images.
