Former Labor MP Eddie Obeid granted parole in time for Christmas
Former NSW minister Eddie Obeid will swap prison greens and a cramped jail cell for his palatial Sydney mansion and designer suits after being granted parole in time for Christmas.
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Disgraced former politician Eddie Obeid will walk free on parole almost three years after he was jailed for corruption.
The State Parole Authority granted the ex Labor minister parole on Friday under the proviso that he “not engage in any activity paid or unpaid involving the control of money or assets of other people or organisations.”
In December 2016 Obeid was sentenced to five years behind bars with a non-parole period of three years after being convicted of misconduct in public office.
But the 76-year-old will swap his cramped jail cell for a palatial Sydney mansion when he’s freed on December 14 in time for Christmas.
The SPA took into consideration Obeid’s age in the decision, adding the crooked former powerbroker has limited access to rehabilitation programs and counselling in custody.
The body noted he had “demonstrated satisfactory prison performance” during his first stint in jail.
“The offender has suitable post release plans in the community,” the SPA said.
Under his conditions, Obeid is banned from travelling interstate without permission from a community corrections manager and can’t leave the country without a green light from the SPA.
The authority has imposed 11 standard conditions including that Obeid must also regularly report to a community corrections officer.
Obeid left a crooked legacy by abusing his public trust as a parliamentarian when he lobbied a senior bureaucrat over lucrative cafe leases at Circular Quay without revealing his family’s financial interests in the businesses.
The state government is pursuing Obeid and his family for nearly $8 million in legal bills after the former fisheries minister tried to sue anti-corruption officials.
Obeid is also required under laws introduced in 2017 to repay his taxpayer-funded pension which would amount to as much as $660,000, while the government is also trying to claw back around $300,000 in government legal assistance he received as a former minister.
His release caps a horror week for NSW Labor, which is set to investigate allegations of branch stacking amid another probe following shock ICAC revelations about fundraising activities.
On Wednesday The Daily Telegraph revealed a damning whistleblower dossier with what purports to be evidence that officials have been falsifying Granville branch attendance and personally paying members’ fees.
Julia Finn and Lynda Voltz – the shadow ministers alleged to have been aware of the allegations dating from 2008 to last year – deny any wrongdoing amid calls for them to step aside.
The scandal is the latest in a long list of crises for the state branch, which is next month expected to give the full $262,350 it received in “blood money” donations from a company owned by convicted murderer Ron Medich to charity.
Federal and state Labor refused requests for comment.
