Calls for Strathfield mayor to resign after brothel/developer comments
Strathfield Mayor and property developer Antoine Doueihi’s argument that brothel owners are being treated better than property developers within the Liberal Party has fuelled calls for his resignation.
NSW
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A Sydney mayor and developer being investigated for failing to declare his extensive property interests is being called on to resign.
Strathfield Mayor and property developer Antoine Doueihi is being investigated by the NSW Office of Local Government for failing to declare 11 companies that are mainly involved in property development.
The matter was first referred in December 2018 and shows no signs of being finalised before the local government elections in September.
Labor local government spokesman Greg Warren said the final report into Mr Doueihi was “completed weeks ago” and has accused Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock of withholding it from the public — a claim she denies.
“They are sitting on this report because he is a Liberal Party member,” Mr Warren, who this week introduced a bill into state parliament to ban property developers and real estate agents from running as councillors, said.
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“Mr Doueihi has misled his community and made a clear and serious breach in terms of not declaring his interest.
“I call on the minister to intervene, release the report and refer the matter to ICAC.”
Mr Doueihi did not respond to requests for comment.
Minister for Local Government Shelley Hancock said “the assertions are false — this is an investigation being conducted at arm’s length from me”.
An OLG spokesman said the minister “has no role in councillor misconduct matters nor does she have any say or influence in the timing or outcome of these investigations”.
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Mr Doueihi claims to not be either a property developer or a close associate of a property developer, according to documents lodged with the NSW Electoral Commission.
Alongside business partner Robert Gregory, Mr Doueihi is co-director and equal shareholder in DB and DD Sutherland Developments, a company which developed a 24-apartment complex in Sutherland worth an estimated $15m.
Mr Doueihi previously said there are “three apartments to sell” in the Acton St development, which was built by his son Michael’s company Dynamic Projects.
In February Mr Doueihi said moves from the Liberal Party State Executive and Special Minister of State Don Harwin to ban property developers from councils did not make sense.
“So a brothel owner can sit on the local council but a property developer can’t,” he told The Sunday Telegraph.
“According to this idea, it doesn’t matter if he is a brothel owner. I don’t think this idea will survive in the High Court.
“You can’t live without property developers; they build everyone’s home.”
Strathfield Council Deputy Mayor Matthew Blackmore said Mr Doueihi’s argument was “crass and illogical”.
“Property developers by nature are intimately involved with local councils for their daily business – brothel owners are not,” Mr Blackmore said.
“Brothel owners have also not been banned from making donations to political parties since 2009.”
In 2013 the NSW Land Environment Court fined Mr Doueihi $43,000 after he pleaded guilty to carrying out development without development consent.
Mr Doueihi added four additional boarding house rooms to his Burwood Rd, Burwood development – potentially netting him hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra income over time.
Mr Doueihi is often seen with Liberal Party insider and lobbyist Joe Tannous, but said “I’ve never done any business with him, he’s just a friend”.
The Liberal Party voted down a 2017 Labor push to ban property developers from councils, but is considering putting in ban before September’s local government elections.
A senior Liberal told The Sunday Telegraph “information like the Antoine Doueihi matter will weigh heavily on the decision of the Liberal Party about whether to endorse candidates at the local government elections in September”.