Tim Crakanthorp: Dumped minister advocated for Hunter Park redevelopment neighbouring family-owned properties
Tim Crakanthorp told the Property Council he was ‘knocking on the door’ of Sports Minister Steve Kamper for the revamp of a precinct neighbouring land his family owned.
Newcastle
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Dumped Minister Tim Crakanthorp announced he was “knocking on the door” of Sports Minister Steve Kamper “every day” over the $500 million Hunter Park revitalisation before revelations of his family’s property empire – which could have benefited from the project.
Just last month, Mr Crakanthorp assured members at a Property Council meeting in the Hunter that he wanted Sports Minister Steve Kamper to request a briefing on the $500 million plan to transform 63 hectares surrounding McDonald Jones Stadium, the Newcastle Entertainment Centre and Newcastle Showground, into a “world-class lifestyle precinct”.
“We’ve just got to wait for the Minister for Sport, specifically Steve Kamper, to get a briefing on it, see it, and I’d love to talk to him about requesting it. Of course I would,” he said in a meeting in July. “I’m knocking on the door of the minister every day, I can tell you.
“I’m in parliament again next week – I’ll be knocking on the door.”
According to property records, Mr Crakanthorp’s in-laws, the Manitta family, own a swathe of commercial sites around Broadmeadow, in Newcastle’s industrial heart and adjacent to McDonald Jones Stadium and the Hunter Park precinct.
Warehouses and offices at 49, 65, 12 Broadmeadow Rd are all owned by Joseph and Santina Manitta.
According to the latest property data from CoreLogic, the properties were all bought for less than $220,000 – as far back as the late 1980s – and are all leased.
In February, an office building at 30 Broadmeadow Rd was sold by Joseph Manitta to his daughter Laura, Mr Crakanthorp’s wife.
The change of hands came at a cost of $1.25m to Ms Crakanthorp and is currently leased to a car repair firm.
Property records revealed there are at least two other properties on the road owned by Manitta family members, although it is unclear what relation they have to Ms Crakanthorp, Joseph and Santina Manitta.
In 2021, the former Liberal Government allocated $6.7 million to prepare a business case for the Hunter Park project. The entertainment precinct is expected to create 8,000 jobs and an estimated $3.7 billion to the economy during construction and around $55 million annually from the NSW Government.
Meanwhile, just days after the Labor Party rose to power, the NSW Government and Newcastle Council revealed plans for the 20-year redevelopment of Broadmeadow, which forecast the rezoning of land to support 2,000 new homes.
The “investigation area” included properties owned by Mr Crakanthorp’s wife Laura and in-laws.
Sources inside the NSW Government told The Daily Telegraph Mr Cakanthorp had “multiple meetings” with Venues NSW over the Hunter Park redevelopment, before and after the NSW State Elections in March.
It is also understood Mr Crakanthorp had multiple meetings with Ministers over developments in the Hunter, which have now been referred to the corruption watchdog.
A NSW Government spokeswoman said records of all meetings between Mr Crakanthorp and other ministers have been sent to ICAC.
“Any meetings between Mr Crakanthorp and Ministers responsible for decision-making in relation to Hunter development have been referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption,” she said.
Ministers don’t have to log meetings on their disclosures if it is directly between themselves with no third-parties present.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by the Manitta family of Ms Crakanthorp.
Mr Crakanthorp said in a statement to The Daily Telegraph he had self-reported the “unintended omission” from his ministerial disclosures.
“I identified a potential and accidental breach of the Ministerial Code of Conduct.
This is was an unintended breach, and I self-reported this to the NSW Premier,” Mr Crakanthorp said.
“I appreciate the high standards ministers must be held to; this is why I self-reported this breach.”
Mr Crakanthorp will remain a member of Labor’s backbench but faces expulsion from the parliamentary party if the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption decides to open an investigation into him.
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