Disgraced former NSW minister Eddie Obeid has escaped prosecution for his alleged role in a water deal that the Independent Commission Against Corruption found to be corrupt, after criminal charges were withdrawn on the eve of his third trial.
Obeid was charged with misconduct in public office in 2022 alongside two other former Labor ministers, Joe Tripodi and Tony Kelly.
Obeid was accused of concealing a financial interest in a company, Australian Water Holdings (AWH), which was seeking a lucrative public-private partnership with Sydney Water. Tripodi and Kelly were accused of doctoring a cabinet minute to advance the company’s cause. The trio pleaded not guilty and were to face separate trials.
Obeid’s District Court trial was due to start on April 28, but during a hearing on Wednesday the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions dropped the single charge of misconduct in a public office against the 82-year-old.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecution has been contacted for comment.
Charges against Tripodi and Kelly over the AWH deal were dropped in December. Tripodi, who was due to stand trial on that charge in March, is set to be tried on a separate public office misconduct charge in October.
Kelly, a former minister for planning, lands and infrastructure, stood trial in October on the misconduct in public office charge, but the jury was discharged after it was unable to reach a verdict.
The Crown had alleged Kelly presented cabinet with a minute in May 2010 that had been altered to potentially benefit AWH, against the advice of an expert panel.
The jury’s hung verdict came after the Crown’s star witness, Gilbert “Laurie” Brown, Kelly’s former chief of staff, told the court: “I can’t remember anything about anything.”
In 2022, Brown was criminally charged along with Obeid, Tripodi and Kelly, but was offered indemnity against prosecution in 2023 in return for giving evidence against the others.
Brown arrived in court in a wheelchair, claiming serious health issues had damaged his memory, and he was unable to recall anything about the case or give evidence to the ICAC.
The ICAC made corruption findings against the three former ministers and Brown in 2017 in relation to AWH’s plans to form a partnership with Sydney Water to service infrastructure demands in Sydney’s growing north-west.
“Mr Kelly was knowingly and improperly acting in accordance with what he understood to be the wishes of Edward Obeid Sr,” the watchdog’s report said.
Obeid was released from jail last August after serving three years and ten months for a separate charge of conspiracy to misconduct in public office in relation to the grant of a coal exploration licence for which his family received a $30 million benefit.
Following a Herald investigation in January that established that an Obeid family trust had concealed a $30 million stake in a Bankstown development site, the NSW Crime Commission froze the property assets of Obeid Corporation Pty Ltd.
The commission is seeking to recover an estimated $30 million that the Obeid family made from the corrupt coal deal for which Obeid was jailed.
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Ben Cubby is an investigative reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.
