Former mining minister sentenced for misconduct over coal licence
A former NSW mining minister has learned his fate after he was found guilty of wilful misconduct in a public office.
The former NSW Minister Mineral Resources will remain behind bars until at least 2025 after he was found guilty of misusing his position in government.
Ian Michael Macdonald, 74, was found to have awarded a profitable coal licence to a company led by former union boss, John Maitland.
Mr Maitland was previously acquitted of being an accessory before the fact.
Justice Hament Dhanji found Macdonald guilty on two counts of wilful misconduct in a public office in December following a judge-alone trial.
The charges related to Macdonald’s decision to grant consent for Doyles Creek Mining Pty Ltd to apply for a coal exploration licence in August 2008, which he awarded four months later.
Mr Maitland was the chair of the mining company at the time and had a professional relationship with Macdonald through the mining industry.
During the trial, the Crown had contended they were friends.
Justice Dhanji disagreed that their relationship encouraged Macdonald to engage in misconduct for Mr Maitland’s benefit.
He said he did not find that there was a “strategy planned” between the pair to secure the bid.
But he accepted there was reasonable doubt that conversations between the two men had led Mr Maitland to pursue certain ways of applying for the consent before the government, which was ultimately granted by Macdonald.
Justice Dhanji said while there was no evidence of any financial benefit to Macdonald approving the application, he accepted the former minister must have been “conscious on his impending retirement and help out in the home that the favour would be repaid in the future”.
The court heard he awarded the coal licence without adhering to a competitive tender process to benefit Mr Maitland despite other applications on file.
Justice Dhanji found Macdonald had used the preface that the mine would be used a training facility for miners as his reason for granting the application as “a way to mask his decision to benefit Mr Maitland”.
He said his “flagrant disregard” for his responsibility as a minister and elected official was disappointing to the people of NSW.
“The loss of public confidence in government is the most significant consequence of the offending,” Justice Dhanji said.
“The offender was not obliged to take his decisions to cabinet.
“He was able to act without secrecy because he knew his decision would be difficult to review.”
The court heard Macdonald had received dissenting advice the application shouldn’t be approved but decided to grant it regardless.
He’d also not consulted industry boards about the relevant application before making a decision, the court heard.
“The offender by that time was determined to grant the proposal without any regard to its merits,” Justice Dhanji said.
Macdonald was sentenced to eight years in jail for the first count and six years and six months for the second offence.
The sentence will run concurrently.
Macdonald will be eligible for parole for these offences on July 20, 2025 after the sentencing was backdated to January 2020.
He had previously been found guilty and jailed for the offences during a 2017 trial by jury, which were overturned in a 2019 appeal.
Justice Dhanji said he backdated the offence to take into account time already served during a previous sentence for these charges which were overturned on appeal and the delay in court proceedings.
He added the sentence was appropriate after taking into account Macdonald’s age, his difficulties in custody and the ongoing strain on his family due to the care of his disabled daughter.
Macdonald is also serving a separate term of imprisonment after he was sentenced in October 2021 after being found guilty of plotting to commit misconduct in public office with former NSW Labor MP Eddie Obeid.
Macdonald, who is not eligible for parole on these offences until January 2027, is appealing the sentence.
Justice Dhanji said he took into account when sentencing on Friday the current sentence Macdonald is serving for the separate offending.
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Originally published as Former mining minister sentenced for misconduct over coal licence
