Taylor corruption claims backfire on Labor

Revelations of Labor corruption revealed at ICAC have undermined an attack launched on Energy Minister Angus Taylor.

‘You should show some respect’: Energy Minister Angus Taylor during question time on Tuesday. Picture: Kym Smith

Labor’s attempts to target Energy Minister Angus Taylor over alleged­ conflicts of interests have opened a new avenue of attack for Scott Morrison against Anthony Albanese over the corruption scandal that has rocked the NSW branch of the ALP.

The opposition spent question time raking over claims that Mr Taylor had interfered with an inquiry into a family company, Jam Land, which faced questions from the federal Environment Department over illegal land clearing.

Labor tried to put up a motion calling on the Prime Minister to sack Mr Taylor but Mr Morrison shut down the move with his post-election parliament­ary majority and used the opportunity to skewer Labor over the corruption alleg­ations its NSW branch has faced at the Independ­ent Commission Against Corruption.

The Prime Minister linked the unfolding scandal back to the ­Opposition Leader, a former NSW Labor assist­an­t secretary. “The Liberal Party and the Nationa­l Party will not be lectured by someone who used to work in the NSW branch of the Labor Party.” he said.

He had a desk in the office, Mr Speaker, in the ­Sussex Street headquarters of a party that stinks with corruption, where they get money in plastic bags and count it out on the table.

“With the number of Labor Party members from the NSW division who used to serve in Senator Kristina Keneally’s former (NSW) government in jail, you could establish a branch in Silverwater prison of the Labor Party.”

Senator Keneally — now federal Labor’s home affairs spokeswoman — was NSW premier and leader of the NSW Labor Party when the now-jailed ALP faction­al warlord Eddie Obeid was at the height of his powers.

Labor has been keen to revive a pursuit of Mr Taylor for failing to declare an indirect interest in Jam Land Pty Ltd and a 2017 ­meeting where he lobbied then environment minister Josh Frydenberg to have environmental protections for endangered grasslands ­watered down.

ALP strategists believe Mr ­Taylor is the weak link in Mr Morrison’s cabinet and will keep the pressure up during the sitting fortnight, despite the government’s use of the ICAC revelations to push back on integrity.

In a July interview with ABC radio, Mr Taylor said he was representing farmers’ interests at the meeting — including his family’s.

“I make absolutely no apologies for standing up for farmers in my region. That includes me and other family members,” Mr Taylor told ABC radio.

On Tuesday, he continued to defend himself against allegations of improper behaviour over Jam Land. The Energy Minister accused­ Labor of disrespecting farmers facing drought. “I was representing farmers and, at a time of drought like this, you should show some respect for those representing farmers in their electorate,” he said. “What I find most interesting is those opposite come into this place, lecturing us about good governance while the stench of corruption emanates from (the NSW Labor headquarters of) Sussex Street. What complete hypocrisy.”