Democracy for Sale

Wollongong Council was dismissed in March 2008 after 11 days of hearings at the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) uncovered clear evidence of systemic corruption and corrupt activities by developers, Councillors and former staff.

Some Councillors and council staff repeatedly breached the code of conduct, were involved in improper relationships with developers, leaked confidential information and did not declare exchanges of gifts.  Council planner Beth Morgan told the ICAC inquiry she had sex with three developers and received gifts from them while she was assessing their development proposals.

ALP powerbroker and former Wollongong Council employee Joe Scimone told the inquiry he knew Ms Morgan was having an affair with developer Frank Vellar, whose development application was being assessed, but did not report it.  He also admitted that another developer, Glen Tabak, gave him a gold watch worth up to $8,000.

Wollongong MP and major Labor fundraiser Noreen Hay was stood down on 28th February 2008 by Premier Morris Iemma over her involvement with the allegedly corrupt property developer, but was later reinstated.  At an ICAC hearing it was revealed that Noreen Hay had agreed to Frank Vellar's request to enlist the support of three Wollongong ALP councillors for Mr Vellar's North Beach Bathers' Pavilion project.  Mr Vellar also told the inquiry he let Ms Hay use an empty shopfront for her re-election campaign in 2007 at no cost.

The ICAC also heard three of the ALP Councillors - Deputy Mayor Kiril Jonovski, Frank Gigliotti and Zeki Essen - solicited donations from developers for the Labor Party.
Read the ICAC reports on Wollongong Council at:

http://www.icac.nsw.gov.au/go/investigations-and-inquiries/investigation-reports