James O’Doherty: Crakanthorp sacking sets bar high for all ministers

Chris Minns won government campaigning on integrity. Now, just four months into its tenure, his state government faces questions over one of his junior ministers, writes James O’Doherty.

When Labor’s cabinet was sworn in four months ago, little-known Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp was identified early on as an easy target for the new Opposition.

As one former Coalition operative tells me, it was even suggested that the Liberals stick a picture of Crakanthorp to the wall (along with a number of other junior ministers) so they knew where to focus their question time attacks.

As it turns out, the Minister for the Hunter, TAFE and Skills was dumped before the Opposition had time to lay a blow.

Taken at face value, Premier Chris Minns first learned of the “significant private land holdings” owned by Mr Crakanthorp’s wife and her family early this week.

This included a commercial property at Broadmeadow, a Newcastle suburb that could potentially benefit from state government-led development plans. Crakanthorp’s wife purchased that property from her father in February, a month before the election.

Chris Minns during question time at State Parliament on Thursday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

As an MP, Crakanthorp does not need to disclose the property that his wife owns.

But there is a different standard for ministers: they have an obligation to tell the Premier about their immediate family’s private interests, to ensure that any conflicts of interest can be managed.

Minns said he had concerns that Crakanthorp “may have acted in matters in which he had a conflict between his public duties and private interests of members of his family”.

That is a serious accusation.

Probing politicians’ private property interests is bread-and-butter business for the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

So the Premier had no choice but to swing the axe — and quickly.

Dumped minister Tim Crakanthorp. Picture: Facebook

Minns argues that the speed at which he dumped Crakanthorp, and referred him to ICAC, is a virtue.

In parliament on Thursday he contrasted his actions with that of the former government — most notably, under former Premier Gladys Berejiklian — where under-fire ministers often escaped with a slap on the wrist.

“The idea that we would accept a lecture (from the Liberal Party) at this point is utterly ridiculous,” he said.

Sacking Crakanthorp quickly was the right call for Minns.

Delaying action would have just led to the government slowly bleeding integrity.

But that does not make the problem go away.

As Minister for the Hunter, Crakanthorp had multiple meetings regarding massive government projects that may have impacted his family’s property holdings in Broadmeadow.

He also pushed for more details on a $500 million upgrade of parkland near properties his family owned.

Ministerial diary disclosures reveal Crakanthorp met with Venues NSW on May 24, about nondescript “portfolio matters”.

Venues NSW is leading the multimillion-dollar Hunter Park Precinct, which plans to

“transform 63 hectares of government-owned land and facilities into a world-class destination that will attract visitors from across the country and provide new housing for residents in the Hunter region”.

He met with the Property Council in June, before telling the lobby group in July that he was “knocking on the door” of the Sports Minister regarding the Hunter Park Precinct.

All the while, his in-laws owned property nearby.

The new Labor ministers after being sworn in by Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley in April. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Justin Lloyd

Crakanthorp would not say on Thursday whether he had any discussions about the Hunter Park Precinct, but he did insist that he had “never acted in an inappropriate manner”.

There is no suggestion his wife or family has done anything wrong.

Minns’ concerns that Crakanthorp may have taken actions which “could have led to a private benefit” are deeply damaging for a government that came to power campaigning on integrity.

Central to Minns’ promises was a commitment to be better than the government he replaced, whose final years in government were dogged by integrity scandals.

The fact it has only taken four months for a minister to bite the bullet over integrity concerns risks making cynical voters believe nothing has changed.

The Premier has also set the bar incredibly high for his front bench.

When Minns announced he had sacked Crakanthorp on Wednesday, he suggested the “crime’’ was simply failing to disclose the property owned by his immediate family.

There is no doubt that ministers will now be furiously checking their disclosures to ensure everything is above board.

But if held to the same standard, they will also face the sack — even if they come forward now to declare something they forgot about.

We now know that it was Crakanthorp’s chief of staff who admirably blew the whistle on the “substantial” property holdings owned by the MP’s family, after the dumped minister refused to disclose them.

But the question of how the properties first became discovered is still unclear.

Liberal Leader Mark Speakman thinks it was an “inside hit job”.

That is not out of the question.

And, if true, it is a sign of even deeper cracks within a government that has barely had enough time to find its feet.