Eddie Obeid: stripped of pension, $280,000 in legal assistance

PREMIER Mike Baird has welcomed Eddie Obeid’s jail sentence, saying “justice has been done” and revealing plans to strip the former Labor powerbroker of his $120,000-a-year pension.

• Eddie Obeid jailed for at least three years

PREMIER Mike Baird has welcomed Eddie Obeid’s jail sentence, saying “justice has been done” and revealing plans to strip the former Labor powerbroker of his $120,000-a-year pension.

He also sounded a warning to other politicians, saying corruption would be punished.

“If you use your public office for personal gain — there is no excuse,” the Premier told reporters.

“Unfortunately for all of us this is a very, very sad day — to have a situation where someone has used public office for their own benefit … makes everyone sick to the stomach.

“My hope is that anyone who thinks of undertaking similar actions, they can see what happens, they will be caught, justice will be dealt out and my hope is that it never happens again.”

Mike Baird will change law to ensure Obeid is stripped of his parliamentary pension. Picture: Bob Barker.

His words echo comments from former Labor premier Kristina Keneally, who said anything less than a spell behind bars for Obeid would have been a “grave disappointment”.

Ms Keneally gave evidence against Obeid in previous ICAC hearings and he served in her government, although the offence for which he was given a jail term on Thursday was not committed while she was premier.

“Justice has been done,” she told The Daily Telegraph.

“The Justice’s words on the significance of Obeid’s crime and its potential to undermine our democratic system are important.

“Anything less than jail would have been a grave disappointment to the people of NSW.”

Obeid enters court today. Picture: Adam Yip

Mr Baird said he would change the law to ensure Obeid was stripped of his parliamentary pension, branding his crimes as among the most “serious instance of official corruption we have seen in our lifetimes”.

The government plans to amend parliamentary pension laws early next year to ensure that any MP or former MP who is convicted of a serious offence — carried out during their time in office — will lose their pension entitlement.

At the moment MPs can only be stripped of their pension if they are still in office when they are charged with a serious offence, the definition of which is a jail sentence of five years or more.

Obeid was sentenced to a maximum of five years in jail today.

Kristina Keneally says Obeid’s three-year jail term is a good thing. Picture: Carly Earl

“The crimes of Eddie Obeid and his cronies are the most serious instance of official corruption we have seen in our lifetimes,” Mr Baird said.

“Regardless of political affiliation, any MP who commits a serious offence while in office should face the consequences, and should not be shielded simply because they resign before being charged.”

Mr Baird said the existing law, allowing MPs to continue collecting a public pension once they had been convicted of a serious offence was a “glaring anomaly”.

He said the changes would “capture Obeid and any others who find themselves in this situation”.

The Premier also said the government would seek to recover taxpayer-funded legal assistance given to Obeid to fight his court case and during ICAC hearings.

This amounts to more than $280,000.

The money will be pursued when Obeid’s avenues for appeal have been exhausted.

Greens MP Jamie Parker said: “The five-year sentence handed to Eddie Obeid today is a welcome outcome and one that had been sought by the prosecution in this case.”

“It’s clear that he abused his public position to advance his private business interests.”