Don Harwin: Government MP kicked out of chamber over grants program
Government upper house leader Don Harwin has been kicked out of parliament under powers not seen since 1998 over a grant program Labor has labelled a slush fund.
NSW
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Government minister Don Harwin has been booted from the parliamentary chamber under a rare power of the Upper House not seen for more than two decades.
The legislative council on Tuesday night suspended Mr Harwin - the government’s upper house leader - for not providing documents about how grant funding was allocated under a scheme opposition parties have labelled a slush fund.
Labor moved the motion to suspend Mr Harwin because he did not provide information demanded by parliament explaining how money was allocated under the $252 million Stronger Communities Fund.
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In the long running stoush over how the money was given to local councils, government officials have defended the allocation of the money despite some Labor mayors saying they only found out about the program through the media after it was spent.
Mr Harwin was escorted from the chamber by a parliamentary official after Labor and the crossbench succeeded in a suspension motion. The last time a government minister was suspended was when Labor Treasurer Michael Egan was kicked out in 1998.
The suspension was largely symbolic - it only lasted until the end of Tuesday night’s sitting.
However it demonstrated that the government doesn’t have a majority in the upper house at a time when Premier Gladys Berejiklian faces significant pressure over her what she knew about former MP Daryl Maguire’s business dealings.
The government will also need to cough up the documents about the grants funding or provide an explanation on Thursday about why they don’t exist.
Labor and the crossbench allege that the grants program in question was supposed to assist merged councils but was instead used to shore up votes for the coalition ahead of the election without proper process.
“This scheme worked backwards,” Labor’s John Graham said.
“It just beggars belief ... who put these projects in front of the Premier?” he asked.
Labor’s upper house leader Adam Searle said more scrutiny is needed on how “the government ... made a decision about how a quarter of a billion dollars of taxpayer money should be spent”.
Greens member David Shoebridge accused the government of “lying to parliament” about the grants, saying it involved “corruption at the core of the government”.
One nation leader Mark Latham called for the government to “come clean” on how the money was spent.
Upper house manager of government business Damien Tudehope criticised the suspension motion telling parliament the documents demanded can’t be provided because they don’t exist.