War on words delays Eddie Obeid trial once more

A NSW Supreme Court judge has agreed to delay the trial of former NSW Labor ministers Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald.

Former Labor minister Eddie Obeid, left, arrives at the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney on Monday. Picture: AAP

A NSW Supreme Court judge has agreed to delay the trial of former NSW Labor ministers Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald, along with Obeid’s son Moses, after day-long argument over the wording of the men’s indictment.

Judge Elizabeth Fullerton agreed on Monday to adjourn the trial until Wednesday so she could make a decision about the freshly written indictment, which was furnished on defence teams for the three men a day before the trial was due to commence.

The Obeids, along with Mr Macdonald, the former minerals resources minister, have been charged with conspiring to grant a coal exploration licence over their family farm at Mount Penny, near Mudgee in the Bylong Valley.

Barristers for each of the three men raised numerous issues with the newly drafted indictment — from the definition of individual words to concerns about its ­latitude and scope.

Hours of hair-splitting was devoted­ to the word “recklessness” in relation to a conspiracy, then to the conjunction “or”, which had been sitting innocuously in the middle of a paragraph on the proposed indictment.

Cases were referenced all the way up to the High Court, then all the way over to South Australia, where a man who defrauded the tax office received a mention from the crown, if only because his case proved that a person can be aware of a criminal scheme without knowing precisely how it is supposed­ to be implemented.

Justice Fullerton said she would consider the arguments overnight before handing down a written decision on the matter by Wednesday morning.

“The battlelines are fairly drawn,” she said, adjourning the proceedings.

Earmarked to last approxim­ately five months, the tussle over the indictment added an 11th-hour wrinkle and even greater sense of anticlimax to a trial that has alread­y been postponed and anticipat­ed for several months.

As usual, trolleys full of sticky-noted folders were wheeled into the courtroom and unloaded on to waiting shelves, if only for ease of access during the impending hearings.

Justice Fullerton remarked that those present, including the accused, were most likely “chomping at the bit” to see the case proceed.

This was equally true for the 15 or so lawyers who took up seats near the bench, and whose numbers­ almost outranked the phalanx of supporters and court watchers and journalists observing from the nether regions of the courtroom.

As the arguments continued, Obeid Sr, with a noticeably slacker posture, gave himself over to the temptations of eye-resting.

Obeid Jr listened attentively, as did Mr Macdonald, who provided some brief commentary on un­related matters during the lunchtime adjournment.

“They are fabrications concocted by a convicted murderer and self-confessed liar,” he said in front of television cameras, referring to Fortunato “Lucky’’ Gattellari, a recently paroled prisoner who made a number of allegations against Mr Macdonald in an interview published on Monday.

Gattellari claimed that he and property developer Ron Medich — who is now serving a life sentence for murder — had gifted the services of a sex worker to Mr Macdonald in 2009 in exchange for benefits.

Mr Macdonald later told The Australian: “The Gattellari alle­gations have no truth in foundation and I’m looking forward to this trial to clear my name.”

In 2018 the Independent Commission Against Corruption confirmed none of the allegations made by Gattellari in relation to the prostitute, or subsequent benefits, could be substantiated for a criminal change to be laid. “The DPP has advised the commission that there is insufficient evidence to commence criminal proceedings against Mr Macdonald,” a letter to Mr Macdonald’s lawyers stated. “The commission has ­accepted that advice.”