The self destruction of the NSW Right faction of the ALP, closely aligned with Rudd and Iemma, is apparent. Leaders of the faction who managed to capture territory in Wollongong after a ten year struggle with preselection branch stacking look set to lose everything. Iemma has stood by the incompetent Tripodi, but Tripodi seems ready to burst or fly away as soon as the rest of the ballast clears.
Simon Benson reports "DISGRACED Labor Party official Joe Scimone faces expulsion from the ALP after being charged by party bosses with misconduct, along with four Wollongong councillors named at the ICAC."
ALP purge sex scandal members
ReplyDeleteby Simon Benson
DISGRACED Labor Party official Joe Scimone faces expulsion from the ALP after being charged by party bosses with misconduct, along with four Wollongong councillors named at the ICAC.
ALP assistant secretary Luke Foley charged the five under rules stating "conduct contrary to the spirit and solidarity of the party" were grounds for permanent expulsion.
They will face the party's administrative committee today and be given 14 days to give cause as to why they should remain.
The expulsion would be a blow to embattled Labor MP Noreen Hay, who narrowly escaped being expelled herself when the MP for Wollongong was also named at the ICAC.
In a further blow to Ms Hay's standing, sources confirmed she would be dumped this morning as the Premier's representative on the party's ruling administrative committee.
Two of the councillors, Frank Gigliotti and Kiril Janovski - who was expected to be elected mayor before being sacked - were vital recruiters for Ms Hay in her seat.
It is expected that with their expulsion, the memberships of hundreds of branch members brought in by the pair may also expire, leaving Ms Hay vulnerable to a preselection challenge from the party's left wing, furious with the disrepute the Wollongong affair has brought to the party.
The other two councillors facing expulsion are Val Zanotto - a friend of Police Minister David Campbell - and Zeki Esen.
Mr Scimone, a close friend of not only Mr Campbell but Waterways Minister Joe Tripodi, has been stood down from his $200,000 a year job at NSW Maritime pending the outcome of the ICAC inquiry.
It is believed right wing party officials have been reluctant to move quickly against the councillors and Mr Scimone, himself a former council officer with a string of sexual harassment allegations trailing him.
The Right is responsible for installing the councillors and fears a loss of influence in the Wollongong branches and seats of Kiama, Keira and Wollongong, which it spent a decade wresting from the Left in a fierce branch-stacking war. Ms Hay has been cleared by the ICAC of any wrongdoing in relation to the Wollongong Council scandal.
However, a cloud still hangs over Ms Hay, Mr Campbell and Tourism Minister Matt Brown for donations they received from a developer named at the ICAC.
Premier Morris Iemma has also defied a push from within his own party to dump Mr Tripodi from the ministry.
Mr Scimone and the four Labor councillors were alleged to have been involved in a bribery scandal at Wollongong involving local developers.