Labor staffer told to be careful with $100,000 in cash, ICAC told
NSW Labor boss Kaila Murnain faces a grilling at ICAC on Wednesday about what she knew of a “straw donor” racket allegedly run out of party headquarters as well as startling claims she told a staffer to “be careful” taking home an ALDI shopping bag stuffed with $100,000 cash.
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NSW Labor boss Kaila Murnain faces a grilling at ICAC on Wednesday about what she knew of a “straw donor” racket allegedly run out of party headquarters as well as startling claims she told a staffer to “be careful” taking home an ALDI shopping bag stuffed with $100,000 cash.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption is investigating whether the NSW Labor Party attempted to circumvent strict election donation laws at a Chinese Friends for Labor fundraising dinner in March 2015.
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Ms Murnain, now state ALP secretary, has told ICAC investigators in a closed hearing that former Labor upper house MP Ernest Wong had told her the “true source” of the $100,000 donation made to Labor was exiled Chinese billionaire property developer Huang Xiangmo.
Property developers are banned from donating to political parties, while individuals cannot give more than $5000 but allegations have been made that “straw donors”, or fake donors, could have been used to cover up larger donations.
Mr Cheah said Mr Huang allegedly handed over the money to then Labor Party boss Jamie Clements a few weeks after the dinner and his job was to count it and reconcile donation forms.
He said Ms Murnain, an assistant general secretary at the time, didn’t know exactly how much was in the bag, but he would have told her “there’s a lot of money here”.
“I’m pretty sure Kaila was the one who said be careful, in terms of safety, personal safety,” he said.
ICAC counsel assisting Scott Robertson asked: “To be clear about that, at a period of time in which you had possession of $100,000 in cash, Ms Murnain knew you were in possession of the cash?”
Mr Cheah: “I don’t know if she knew how much was there, but she knew there was a sizeable amount of money I was taking home to keep safe, to bring back the next day.”
Later Mr Cheah, who has worked for several ALP ministers, said he stopped to buy groceries at the Coles on the way home, “which is why the ALDI bag stands out to me because I don’t shop there, it’s different”.
He also told the ICAC he didn’t dare open the bag as “I didn’t want to lose anything”.
Lawyers for Mr Clements put it to Mr Cheah that he had made up a “fantastical story” about the cash donation to use Mr Clements as a scapegoat.
“I don’t have any animosity towards Mr Clements to make him a scapegoat,” Mr Cheah replied.
Documents released by ICAC show that during an interview with NSW Electoral Commission investigators, Mr Cheah was asked if he felt worried about carrying $100,000 in cash home.
“Not particularly,” he answered. When it was put to him that it was concerning, he replied: “If I had a sign on my head that said I’m carrying $100,000, then yeah. But if I’m just carrying around a bag which looks like anybody else’s shopping bag, then I have no reason to think that someone’s going to think that I have $100,000 on me.”
ICAC documents also show the property developer Mr Huang, also known by the name of Changran Huang, rang the NSW Firearms Registry asking for a gun licence in NSW on August 3, 2015, but when the office posted out the forms he didn’t apply.
Mr Huang, who has a lawyer present at the ICAC hearing, has been stranded outside Australia since late last year after his visa was cancelled on the advice of ASIO. He sat at the head table alongside former ALP leader Bill Shorten and former NSW Leader Luke Foley at the March 2015 dinner, held at Eight Restaurant in Chinatown.
Mr Cheah said one of the reasons Mr Huang would have been at the head table could have been to avoid causing offence to a “rich and powerful guy”.
Former ALP senator Sam Dastyari, whose political career ended after a scandal broke over his relationship with Mr Huang, will attend the hearings on Thursday.
Mr Wong, who attended the hearing and sat in the public section on Tuesday, is expected to give evidence on Friday.