Dumped NSW minister Tim Crakanthorp sacked after chief of staff blew the whistle

More details on how dumped NSW minister Tim Crakanthorp came to be sacked have emerged. Read the inside story here.

Dumped Minister Tim Crakanthorp was sacked after he was outed by his own staffer over his refusal to disclose his family’s full property empire.

The initial refusal prompted his chief of staff to inform the Premier’s office of the potential Ministerial Code of Conduct breach leading the Premier to send a letter to the MP requesting a please explain.

Premier Chris Minns on Thursday said the disclosures only came after he sent a “formal letter” to the Newcastle MP. That contradicted Mr Crakanthorp’s statement in parliament that he “self-reported” the disclosure error.

“Information was given to me that I’m not going to go into relating to the number of properties that Minister Crakanthorp held,” Mr Minns said.

“That prompted a formal letter from me to him in relation to the properties that he did hold,” he said.

Dumped NSW minister Tim Crakanthorp during question time. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

“That resulted in a large number of properties being submitted to me and the Cabinet Office … and that prompted my decision to remove him from the cabinet.”

The Daily Telegraph understands that Mr Crakanthorps’ chief of staff found out about the full list of properties and told the MP to declare it, but Mr Crakanthorp initially refused.

The staffer then informed the Premier’s office, which prompted Mr Minns’ letter.

The Daily Telegraph put the allegation to Mr Crakanthorp on Thursday night.

The MP’s former COS refused to comment.

Member for Newcastle Tim Crakanthorp during his election campaign.

In his statement to parliament on Wednesday, Mr Crakanthorp said that he had in recent days made “a subsequent disclosure to the Premier’s office to self-report an omission on my ministerial disclosures as required by the code of conduct,” but said that disclosure also omitted some properties.

“I also took steps to subsequently notify the Premier that I had now become aware that properties owned within Broadmeadow by my in-laws also now represented a conflict of interest,” Mr Crakanthorp said.

“In recent days I again notified the Premier’s Office that I had now spoken to both my in-laws and my siblings’ in-laws to assemble a full list of each of their interests, and I have provided those to the Premier’s office.

“I appreciate and firmly believe Ministers must be held to the highest standards and would like to note that this oversight was identified due to my own self-reporting.”

MINNS’ ‘CONCERNS’ OVER WHETHER SACKED MINISTER BENEFITED

Premier Chris Minns says he has concerns over whether sacked Minister Tim Crakanthorp or his family may have benefited from his cabinet role, regarding properties owned in Newcastle.

Mr Crakanthorp on Wednesday night said he had self-reported properties owned in Broadmeadow by his in-laws which may have constituted a conflict of interest.

“Again, obviously, like any town in New South Wales there is the potential for development within those places,” Mr Minns said on Thursday morning.

NSW Premier Chris Minns during question time at state parliament on Thursday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

“Now if there is or there has been a concern about him acting in his public capacity, for potential conflict of interest that needs to be investigated. I do have concerns about that. I’m being honest about it. And that’s why we referred it to the ICAC. I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to speculate on those conditions or those circumstances. I need the corruption watchdog to do that job.”

The Premier said he wouldn’t pressure the ICAC to declare whether or not they would actively investigate Mr Crakanthorp, after the Premier referred the issue to the watchdog.

“It’s up to them to determine their investigation guidelines,” he said.

“And I don’t think it would be appropriate having referred someone to 24 hours ago to issue a public statement about how quickly they deal with those matters.”

It came as Sports Minister Steve Kamper said all major Hunter projects involving the state government were now being urgently scrutinised in the wake of Mr Crakanthorp’s sacking.

NSW Sport Minister Steve Kamper. Picture: Picture NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Mr Kamper said the acting boss of the public service had been tasked to analyse Hunter developments and proposals.

“I understand that the Acting Secretary of the Cabinet Office has been instructed to arrange for an urgent examination of all current major Hunter Region development processes involving state government agencies. We want to be sure that governance assurance and decision making processes are sound,” he said, saying more information would be provided later.

It came after Opposition leader Mark Speakman quizzed Mr Kamper on what contact he had had with Mr Crakanthorp regarding the precinct.

Mark Speakman during a press conference at state parliament on Thursday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

Mr Speakman claimed Mr Crakanthorp last month told a Property Council lunch he had been “knocking on (Mr Kamper’s) door every day” to see the business case for the proposed Hunter Park Precinct.

The long-running plan for the precinct includes proposals to transform 63 hectares surrounding McDonald Jones Stadium, the Newcastle Entertainment Centre and Newcastle Showground into “a sporting, entertainment, and lifestyle precinct”.

The precinct wraps around the suburb of Broadmeadow, where Mr Crakanthorp’s in-laws and wife own several properties.

‘INSIDE HIT JOB’

Meanwhile, Opposition leader Mark Speakman labelled the unveiling of Mr Crakanthorp’s family’s property holdings “an inside hit job”, as confusion reigns over whether Mr Crakanthorp self-reported the properties unprompted.

The Daily Telegraph understands neither the Opposition nor media inquiries prompted the declaration of the properties, with Mr Speakman saying he thought it may have been from within Labor.

“We suspect it’s an inside hit job … someone inside the Labor Party who has provided information to Chris Minns about the Member for Newcastle,” Mr Speakman said.

“(Mr Crakanthorp) said last night in parliament that it was self-reporting, today apparently the Premier said he received information separately that led to a formal letter from the Premier (Mr Crakanthorp), so again there’s confusion (and) obfuscation there,” he said.

He also accused the Premier of using his referral of the issue to ICAC to avoid releasing more information about the incident that prompted the sacking.

“There is still a shroud of secrecy surrounding this government about what actually happened and to kick it down the road for a couple of years to ICAC is not a satisfactory answer for the people of New South Wales,” he said.