By Nathan Rees Thu Aug 1, 2013 10:31am AEST
Photo: The ICAC described Mr Obeid as being an 'unimpressive' witness. (AAP: Paul Miller)
As the ICAC hands down its findings on Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald, members of the Labor Party in NSW are entitled to be angry, they are entitled to be indignant. The Labor party is in desperate need of change, writes Nathan Rees.
So it has come to this.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has decided Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald engaged in corrupt conduct.
They've been referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions who will determine whether there will be criminal charges.
The ICAC described Mr Macdonald as an "unsatisfactory " witness. It described Mr Obeid as being an 'unimpressive' witness. Both men assert they are innocent of wrongdoing.
Both men have also indicated they will seek judicial review of the ICAC findings. Presumably the DPP will await the results of those actions before determining whether to press on. This tale of woe has reached Chapter 13, "Things Get Grim."
While things may get grimmer for Messrs Obeid and Macdonald, spare a thought for the good men and women of the Australian Labor Party and its supporters.
For the last year or so, the ICAC allegations, public hearings and associated commentary have utterly dominated the political landscape in NSW. Recently, the odium has threatened to slop over into the federal sphere, prompting intervention from the Prime Minister into the NSW branch of the party.
With the promise of further hearings and appeals, these matters will have sucked up the oxygen of NSW Labor for a full parliamentary term. That's quite an achievement. In the meantime, Barry O'Farrell goes unhindered in his daily quest to toughen the lives of the injured, the victimised or the simply hard up. As shots ring out across Sydney each night, and dozens of people are killed, Barry O'Farrell knows that Labor's corruption scandal insulates him from all the usual standards of accountability.
What to do? Simply, the future of Labor in NSW is in the hands of the thousands of good men and women who have joined the oldest party representing workers in the world. They are entitled to be angry, they are entitled to be indignant. They have every right to scream from the rooftops:
We staff the booths, do the doorknocking and fight the good fight. We know there are good and bad periods. We know that sometimes people make wrong decisions. We are generous, we continue to argue the Labor case in our homes, streets, schools shops and clubs. But we are no longer prepared to drag around the weight of the venal or self interested. We've had a gutful. We are sick of the infighting, we are sick of the spivs, the charlatans, the urgers and the dodgy characters. We are sick of the factional fix, the capitulations to the wealthy and influential and the callous disregard for core beliefs. We demand a party that encourages active membership, uses the rank and file to select official positions and the leadership. We want a party in which the healthy contest of ideas is central to our being, and a party that will never ever allow itself to be hijacked by those with an agenda inimical to looking after working people.
These are our standards, our beliefs and our demand.
The party's response to this would seem to be blindingly obvious; embrace the changes required. Yet, those seeking reform have had to push , argue and cajole every inch of the way. Sam Dastyari and John Graham are faceless men, but they've done NSW Labor a massive service in taking on the internal vested interests. Incredibly, many have argued against a need for change. They've insisted that the 2011 state election result was simply cyclical, that time itself will correct things.
I have a message for these people. You don't get it, and you never will. If you are not prepared to help modernise our great party, then at least be decent enough to resign. Get out. Do not be the handbrake on our efforts to modernise the party so that we can deliver in the future for the millions of working Australians. Those Australians depend on a healthy Labor party to represent their interests. Our party is not your plaything, it is not your fiefdom and it is not your social worker.
There is only one thing that should guide our political activity, and that is how to further the interests of the men and women of NSW and Australia.
Surely, by now, we are sick of people doing otherwise?
Nathan Rees is the NSW Labor spokesman for police and emergency services and the arts. He is the former premier of the NSW State Government. View his full profile here.
NSW Labor needs reform: accept it or resign - The Drum (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
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