'Breakfast with Eddie Obeid': trial hears of former Labor MPs' ties
At 8am on Wednesday, April 23, 2008, the then NSW Labor mining minister Ian Macdonald was breakfasting with his Labor MP colleague Eddie Obeid at a cafe in Sydney, according to a diary tendered in the duo's criminal trial.
By June 6, Mr Macdonald was allegedly asking his department to change the boundaries of a potential mining area in the state's Bylong Valley, where the Obeid family owned a coal-rich rural retreat.
Moses Obeid (left), Ian Macdonald (centre) and Eddie Obeid (right) are on trial.Credit:Sydney Morning Herald
Jamie Gibson, a former chief of staff to Mr Macdonald, gave evidence on Tuesday in the NSW Supreme Court criminal trial of the former MPs that his then-boss asked him in May 2008 to seek information from his department "as soon as possible" about Mount Penny, including how much coal might be in the area.
Mr Obeid, his middle son Moses and Mr Macdonald are accused of conspiring to commit misconduct in public office over the grant of a coal exploration licence over the Obeid family's farm at Mount Penny in the Bylong Valley. The trio have pleaded not guilty to the charges and their trial is expected to run until early 2021.
The court has heard the Obeid family negotiated a $30 million payment from the successful bidder for the Mount Penny exploration licence, ultimately granted by Mr Macdonald's department in 2009.
Mr Gibson, who was Mr Macdonald's deputy chief of staff in 2008, said he faxed information about Mount Penny, including a map of the area, to his boss at home in Orange on May 9, 2008. There is no suggestion Mr Gibson was aware the Obeid family owned land at Mount Penny, nor is he accused of wrongdoing.
On May 14, Mr Gibson emailed a departmental liaison officer in Mr Macdonald's office: "Mate – is there any possible way that we can get more detail on this area? For example, is it possible for [the department] ... to open its holdings for tender?"
Mr Gibson also asked if there were "any better assessments on how much coal might [be] there?", saying "we need it asap".
A deputy director-general in Mr Macdonald's Department of Primary Industries, Alan Coutts, emailed Mr Gibson and others: "We also need a bit more info on what is the area we are looking at – What do you mean by Mt Penny – it is not an area we recognise by that name as a potential [coal licence] allocation area."
Mr Gibson gave evidence that in June 2008 Mr Macdonald requested that the boundary of a potential "North Bylong" coal exploration area be changed.
The Mount Penny exploration area, subsequently open to tender, was smaller than the original North Bylong area and the boundaries were "very similar" to those requested by Mr Macdonald, Mr Gibson said.
The court has previously heard evidence that an associate of the Obeid family paid an unsolicited visit to a small mining company in July 2008, seeking to do a deal with unnamed landowners in relation to a mine at Mount Penny.
The trial continues.
Michaela Whitbourn is a legal affairs reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.