Government. Oz Style.

Let’s get this right.

The party who had assets confiscated by the state, with no compensation can’t be compensated. However, the party who profited from corrupt transaction can keep the proceeds.

Riddle me that?

For those outside NSW, cast your minds back some 10 plus years. Recall a fellow by the name of Eddie Obied.

Well, according to reporting in the Daily Telegraph:

The state government has supported moves to crackdown on the proceeds of crime after the Crime Commission said it could not call back the $30 million dollars jailed former Labor minister Eddie Obeid made from a corrupt coal license deal.

Seemingly a nice trade. Couple of years in jail. Eviscerated repution. But you get $30 million. Tax free.

Nice work if you can get it.

According to Mark Speakman, the NSW opposition clown, sorry leader:

I think the people of NSW will be shocked and outraged that Mr Obeid and his family look like they’re going to keep their $30m of ill-gotten gains at a time when families are struggling to pay their bills and put food on the table,

Here’s a quick lesson in NSW Constitutional Law. There is no consitution and unlike at the Commonwealth level, when the State confiscates private property, it does not have to pay fair and just compenation. Sorry to all those fans of the Castle.

How does Sparty know this? Because he does and because the government of Fatty O’Barrell passed specially legislation to strip the coal licence from NuCoal who were shown to be victims of this Obied affair. And Fatty’s government paid no compensation.

Chris Merritt writing in the Australian has repeatedly and well told of this story. Its not only a disgusting act by the NSW government, but it is also arguably a breach of the US AU Free Trade Agreement. “I think the people of NSW will be shocked and outraged that Mr Obeid and his family look like they’re going to keep their $30m of ill-gotten gains at a time when families are struggling to pay their bills and put food on the table,” he wrote:

It relates how a NSW parliamentary committee recommended in 2019 that the state government “address the issue of compensation for certain investors, including US shareholders in a mining project that was cancelled in 2014”.

“When cancelling the licence, the NSW government also passed legislation precluding the payment of compensation relating to such cancellation.

“To date, the NSW government has not acted on the parliamentary committee’s recommendation to provide shareholders, including US investors, with recourse to seek compensation,” the trade barriers report says.

So basically, the NSW government STOLE a valuable asset from a company called NuCoal. And passed legislation preventing payment of compensation.

Criminal keeps proceeds. Victim gets screwed. How very modern Austalia.

How about the NSW government, with the oppositions support, start with passing legislation to confiscate Obied’s assets to give some compensation to NuCoal.

As a start.

But that would be justice and we can’t have that.