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Treasury official became a big player

THE link between Metgasco and the Obeid family is a Brisbane-based high-flyer who has been involved in some of Queensland biggest corporate plays.

THE link between Metgasco and the Obeid family is a Brisbane-based high-flyer who has been involved in some of the biggest corporate plays in Queensland over the past two decades.

Tony Bellas made his name as a Treasury official, rising to become the state’s deputy undertreasurer, before leading the government teams that floated the Queensland TAB and created Suncorp Metway.

After leaving the bureaucracy, he maintained his links to government with his appointment as chief executive of the state-owned electricity companies Ergon Energy and CS Energy.

About a decade ago, Mr Bellas moved into the private sector as chief executive of Queensland’s largest developer, the Seymour Group. In recent years, Mr Bellas — who is non-executive chairman of the publicly listed ERM Power, which is Metgasco’s ­largest shareholder — has branched out with investments in small start-up companies in the resources and infrastructure sectors. Among the companies was the Queensland subsidiary of Australian Water Holdings — which is alleged to have siphoned hundreds of thousands of dollars from Sydney Water.

In 2010, Mr Bellas was appointed a director of Australian Water Queensland. A year later, he joined the board of Gasfields Water Management, a joint venture company set up by AWH and the now head of Queensland’s public service, Jon Gray­son, a longtime friend. In 2012, Mr Bellas was appointed to lead a review of the electricity sector for the Newman government.

Late last year, Mr Grayson and Mr Bellas were among six equal shareholders — along with Eddie Obeid Jr and former AWH boss Nick di Girolamo — to form a new company, Gasfields Water and Waste Services.

The sole director of the GWWS is Dennis Jabour, a cousin of Mr Obeid who told the NSW ICAC hearings last month that he was still working for his uncle, the disgraced former Labor MP Eddie Obeid. In his ICAC testimony, Mr Jabour said it has been “a mistake’’ that Mr Obeid Jr had been listed as a shareholder in the official business register.

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/treasury-official-became-a-big-player/news-story/77d5499352625428a11711d79a7c54de