ICAC probe touches on NSW Lib MP Mark Coure’s China trip

NSW minister Mark Coure’s ‘signing ceremony’ trip was paid for by a billionaire trying to curry favour with government officials.

NSW Liberal Party MP Mark Coure. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Flavio Brancaleone

NSW Liberal Party Minister Mark Coure attended a signing ceremony with Con Hindi, the former Hurstville City Council councillor under investigation by the state’s anti-corruption watchdog, on a trip to China paid for by a billionaire attempting to curry favour with government officials.

An investigation by The Australian can reveal Mr Coure was the state parliamentarian mentioned throughout the recent Operation Galley public hearings, with his trip to Beijing and Tangshan ion June 17-21, 2016, revealed in his parliamentary disclosures for that financial year.

According to Mr Coure’s disclosures, his trip to China was ­either partially or fully funded by the Xinfeng Group, also known as Tangshan Xinfeng Thermo­electric Group – a company owned by Yuqing (“China”) Liu, a billionaire Chinese businessman examined by the ICAC investigation.

Four people involved in the ICAC hearings confirmed Mr Coure, who in 2016 was the deputy government whip and chair of the Legislative Assembly environment and planning committee, was the MP in question.

Concluding the public hearings in early August, the Operation Galley probe has examined whether three Hurstville City councillors – Mr Hindi, Vince Bada­lati and Philip Sansom – accepted perks from Chinese developers and businessman Mr Liu in exchange for favourable treatment on property developments.

Mr Badalati has previously told ICAC he accepted $170,000 in two cash payments from developer Philip Uy. Mr Uy denies the allegations. Mr Hindi denies wrongdoing, saying his 2016 trip to China was simply out of interest for waste-to-energy technology.

Mr Sansom has conceded he should have disclosed a conflict of interest about his relationship with Mr Uy.

Mr Coure’s presence at the Hebei International Economic and Trade Fair on June 18 has not been revealed until now, with ICAC choosing not to name him throughout the public hearings, as Commissioner Stephen Rushton did not consider the Oatley MP to be “an affected person in respect to this investigation”.

In response to questions, a spokesman for Mr Coure said his relationship with Mr Hindi was “only in his capacity as the local MP” before noting the pair “are no longer in contact”.

“Minister Coure is a passionate and present member for Oatley, home to one of the most diverse communities in the state. The overseas trip referred to and its details have been appropriately disclosed, which has been the case for six years,” he said.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said: “Members are required to make disclosures; my expectation is that they do, and I understand Minister Coure has confirmed he complied with his obligations.”

Xinfeng Group posted after the June signing ceremony: “Tangshan Xinfeng Group co-operated with Australia VS Corporation to build a waste-to-energy project in NSW, with a total investment of $US333m.”

Commissioner Rushton had questioned why Mr Liu — “who I understand was a billionaire, maybe a multibillionaire” — invited Mr Hindi to China to visit his waste-to-energy plant in China.

During his evidence at the public hearings on August 2, Mr Hindi referred to a “senior minister of the government” who he claimed had been a “very important part of this … thing”, saying the June trip had occurred after an earlier visit to Tangshan by Mr Badalati, Mr Hindi and his wife, Mireille.

“We took the next step in June, with the senior minister of the government. Now you don’t want me to mention his name, I don’t know why, but he was a very important part of … this thing,” Mr Hindi said.

“Otherwise, that’s exactly why he went because he was representing the NSW government for waste-to-energy, not to go and help me vote on Landmark and Treacy Street. He doesn’t vote.”

Mr Hindi denied Mr Coure had any role in plans for a 75-unit apartment block development in Hurstville at the centre of the ­investigations.

Evidence presented at ICAC by barrister Ray Hood, representing Chinese property developer Wensheng Liu, also questioned the presence of Mr Coure at the signing ceremony, saying he represented a “step up the ladder” and was regarded as “somebody who had contacts with a person higher in government” than Mr Badalati and Mr Hindi.

Mr Coure’s visit to China was probed by Labor during budget estimates on Thursday, questioning whether he had visited the country with Mr Hindi or had meetings with employees from Xinfeng Group.