Exclusive: Minns issues ultimatum to Mihailuk - stop attacking colleagues or be demoted
NSW Labor frontbencher Tania Mihailuk has been warned she will be stripped of her shadow cabinet position if she uses parliamentary privilege to attack party colleagues ahead of the election., where she attacked Canterbury-Bankstown mayor Khal Asfour, linking him to corrupt former minister Eddie Obeid.
Credit:Asfour is a Labor candidate on the party’s upper house ticket for the March election, along with other newcomers including Dubbo barrister Stephen Lawrence and Cessnock nurse Emily Suvaal. Mihailuk, the MP for Bankstown, warned it would be a disastrous outcome for the party if Asfour remained on the ticket, and said it left her no option but to launch an attack on her own party. She told parliament there were “significant discrepancies in planning controls” in Canterbury-Bankstown council’s 2021 Bankstown City Centre master plan that had left “valuable land” as “virtually worthless” for ratepayers. “This must be investigated,” Mihailuk said, adding she had tried to raise concerns with ALP bosses, including disgraced former general secretary Jamie Clements and current secretary Bob Nanva. “Candidacy for such a privileged position you would expect warrants comprehensive scrutiny, particularly because Labor’s recent ICAC woes, and well-documented ICAC findings against former ministers, which marred the last NSW Labor government,” Mihailuk told parliament. Sources with knowledge of a conversation between Minns and Mihailuk said it was made clear that she could not stay in the shadow cabinet if she used parliamentary privilege to attack colleagues. The pair will meet again, as early as Friday, to have further discussions. Minns’ office was contacted for comment. Minns said on Wednesday he planned to meet with Mihailuk that afternoon to discuss why she decided to air the allegations in parliament. He also said Asfour had referred the allegations to the Independent Commission Against Corruption .Mihailuk’s allegations in parliament relate, in part, to a 25-storey development proposed for a Bankstown property owned once by the Obeids and now owned by Eddie’s long-time friend and business partner Wally Wehbe. Incidentally, the site is the Bellevue Function Centre, which has been the subject of two fires. It was also the venue for the wedding of Asfour at which Obeid and former NSW Labor MP Joe Tripodi were at the same table. Mihailuk was also a guest at the wedding. The chief executive of Canterbury-Bankstown council Matthew Stewart said in a statement on Thursday that he had taken “immediate and urgent steps” to address Mihailuk’s allegations. “Ms Mihailuk has used parliamentary privilege to take an indirect swipe at council and its processes,” Stewart said. “The comments about planning issues and processes have angered hardworking staff who continually strive for excellence and the best outcomes for the city.” Stewart said the “integrity of council was being questioned and the matter necessitated an independent and thorough review”, and had engaged “a prominent senior investigator”.Asfour also rejected Mihailuk’s allegations, claiming they “reek of sour grapes at being overlooked on Labor’s upper house ticket”.“She has used parliamentary privilege to launch a cowardly attack on me and my family and I call on her to produce evidence of any wrongdoing to the relevant bodies,” Asfour said. There has been bitter infighting within Labor over preselection in the south-west of Sydney because boundary redistributions have led to the abolition of the seat of Lakemba, forcing Labor MPs, including Mihailuk, to shift seats.The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
NSW Labor MP Tania Mihailuk launches extraordinary attack on her own party in parliamentIn late-night speech, Tania Mihailuk links Bankstown mayor and Labor candidate Khal Asfour to corrupt former minister Eddie Obeid
Read more »
NSW Labor MP launches attack on own party's 'tainted' upper house pickMP Tania Mihailuk uses parliamentary privilege to attack the character of a potential future candidate — linking them to corrupt former minister Eddie Obeid.
Read more »
Implement pre-court diversion for drug users now, author of NSW ice inquiry urgesProf Dan Howard says he’s ‘puzzled’ it took the government nearly three years to agree to such modest changes in policing
Read more »
Farmers in western NSW cut off from towns as rivers riseWhile thunderstorms on Wednesday weren't as severe as forecast, Warren is in major flood and towns like Tullamore and Trundle are cut off.
Read more »