No rest until Eddie Obeid’s millions tracked down, says NSW Premier Chris Minns

Chris Minns has promised the state’s crime commission that his government would empower it with resources and even legislative changes to ensure it went after Eddie Obeid’s corrupt $30m haul.

Eddie Obeid arrives at the NSW Supreme Court in 2021. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone

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NSW Premier Chris Minns has promised the state’s crime commission that his government would empower it with resources, funding and even legislative changes to ensure it went after Eddie Obeid’s $30m made from a corrupt coal license deal.

The premier’s Tuesday vow comes after NSW Crime Commissioner Michael Barnes in April said that a decision not to confiscate the money was one he did not want to make and was due to the web of complexity around the money.

But Mr Minns told Sydney’s 2GB on Tuesday that his government not only disagreed with that decision but would back Commissioner Barnes and his organisation to pursue the $30m.

“The crime commission made a decision during the federal election campaign … The government and the commission were criticised for it, and I think that criticism was actually legitimate,” Mr Minns said.

“(Obeid’s haul and conduct) is the greatest and largest example of public corruption … It is synonymous with public distrust in officials and with the Labor Party. And there needs to be a reckoning here.”

Obeid, 81, his son Moses, and former mining minister Ian Macdonald were jailed in 2021 over the deal after a judge-alone trial found the three men guilty of conspiring to commit misconduct in public office.

The state’s corruption watchdog conducted an explosive inquiry in 2013 into the coal exploration licence granted for the Obeid family farm, Cherrydale Park, in the Bylong Valley in the NSW Hunter region.

NSW Premier Chris Minns.

Obeid made $30m from a rigged licence tender and stood to make another $30m until the state government cancelled the licence.

Mr Minns said the state’s crime commission had “extraordinary powers” it should use.

“In other words, if it’s been proved or even suspected that criminal activity has taken place and there’s been a windfall gain, it’s incumbent upon the crook to prove that that’s not the case,” he said.

“And I’ve made it clear to the crime commission and commissioner in a letter yesterday that we will provide the resourcing, the funding or changes to the law if necessary.

“Because not only does justice need to be done, it needs to be seen to be done, and the public needs to have faith in the public institution.”

Commissioner Barnes said of the $30m in April: “The money went into a complex web of corporate discretionary trusts and was distributed along with lawfully obtained money. It was lent between a large number of beneficiaries and layered multiple times”.

He also said on top of trying to identify where the money ended up, some of the records were no longer available, and that “no stone” had been left “unturned”.

Mr Minns said he had sought advice from the commission on what the government could provide to help it better pursue Obeid’s corrupt gains.

“If the message goes out that if you’ve got deep enough pockets you can run (cases) through the courts, and the government will eventually drop off – what kind of message will that send to future corrupt officials or criminals in the state,” he said, adding that a lengthy court process to reclaim the funds may be required.

NSW parliament will resume on Tuesday.