Following the corruption watchdog’s finding that John Sidoti engaged in significant misconduct, he has spoken out about a heated phone conversation he had with Dominic Perrottet.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) looked into the ex-sports minister’s attempts to influence council members to rezone property in Sydney’s inner west’s Five Dock neighborhood.
It was determined that between “late 2013 and February 2017,” Mr. Sidioti engaged in severe corruption.
The Drummoyne MP promised to defend his reputation and denied any wrongdoing during an interview with 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Thursday.
He recalled his “rude” response when the NSW premier sought his resignation on Wednesday afternoon.
He said, “It was two words, and I can’t utter them on TV.”
Mr. Sidoti said, “The second word may have started with F,” when Fordham pressed him for more details about what he had said.
I can’t quite recall, but it involved words that aren’t typically in my lexicon.
When asked if he would retire from parliament, a defiant Mr. Sidoti responded emphatically “no,” adding that he will “definitely” contest the ICIC’s decision against him.
It happens after Mr. Perrottet demanded Mr. Sidoti’s resignation in the open.
The premier said in a statement on Wednesday, “I have contacted Mr. Sidoti to notify him that I feel he should retire from the parliament.”
If Mr. Sidoti does not quit, the NSW government will introduce a resolution to suspend him.
The NSW government has also sought legal counsel on this issue, according to the statement.
“Corruption has no place in the NSW Parliament.”
If Mr. Sidoti does not resign, the opposition, according to Labor leader Chris Minns, will support the resolution to suspend him.
In the Supreme Court, Mr. Sidoti has vowed to contest the ICAC’s findings against him.
The senior MP said he wouldn’t change a thing if he had a second chance to serve as a member of parliament.
“I’ve always spoken up for my supporters, partners, and neighborhood.
“Fordham was informed, “But if you’re going to be afraid to speak your views and express the truth in public, not behind closed doors, but in public, you wouldn’t do anything as an MP.
“You’d have no voice.”
The ICAC discovered that Mr. Sidoti used his influence as an MP to threaten and intimidate Canada Bay council members into rezoning land to advance his family’s real estate interests.
Mr. Sidoti claims that his family operated a function center in Five Dock, where his business activities were widely known and would be difficult to locate anyone in the neighborhood who was unaware of them.
Therefore, he continued, “the notion that they somehow didn’t know or that they lost their recollection is just unacceptable.”
Nobody was unaware that my family held land there, according to the statement.
“You ask why I became active in the Five Dock neighborhoods.
I got interested because I have always had a strong heart for the neighborhoods.
I have spent my entire life there.
Mr. Sidoti is sure he will prevail in the fight to clear his identity.
The truth is that I’m innocent, he continued, “I know in my heart what I’ve done and haven’t done.”
“I’ll fight this,” you said. Principle underlies it.
I wish to avoid conflict. I have endured this misery for three years.
In the past 11 years, “I’ve done everything I can to fully represent my neighborhood.”
The ICAC also decided “that consideration should be given to getting the Director of Public Prosecutions’ recommendation with respect to prosecuting Mr. Sidoti for the offense of misconduct in public office.”
The DPP is in charge of all prosecutions and decides if any criminal charges can be brought.
Chief Commissioner Peter Hall oversaw Operation Witney, which was presented to the NSW legislature on Wednesday.
It looked into whether Mr. Sidoti had abused his power to inappropriately sway Liberal council members on the City of Canada Bay Council (CCBC) in order to further the property interests of his family.
It was discovered that he engaged in “a protracted course of conduct” by trying to illegally influence” council members Helen McCaffrey, Mirjana Cestar, and Tanveer Ahmed while serving as the MP for Drummoyne.
The commission concluded that Mr. Sidoti intimidated and threatened council members in an effort to obstruct their impartial performance of their official duties in order to advance his family’s property interests.
Despite his insistence that he was acting in his constituents’ best interests, the report stated that “the outcomes that he wanted those councillors to deliver were entirely directed to his private interest in increasing the development potential of his family’s growing number of properties in and around the Five Dock town center.”
The ICAC discovered that the results he was advocating for were also at odds with what the CCBC had determined to be in the public interest based on recommendations from council staff and independent expert planning consultants “after considerable community outreach.”
By “representing that he was operating at all times in the interests of his constituents and the local community,” the ICAC ruled that he had violated the public trust.
In addition, Mr. Sidoti violated his duty under the ministerial code of conduct and the MPs’ code of conduct by failing to disclose his ownership stake in family properties from the time he first entered the legislature in March 2011 until April 4, 2017.
In order to improve the disclosure of financial and personal interests, the management and declaration of conflicts of interest for MPs, and “to address councillors’ governance obligations, particularly in relation to lobbying, conflicts of interest, and environmental planning issues,” ICAC made 15 recommendations for the prevention of corruption.
After the ICAC started its investigation in 2019, Mr. Sidoti stepped down as minister of sports.
He later quit the Berejiklian administration cabinet in March 2021, just before the start of the public hearings.
Throughout the ICAC’s probe, he vehemently denied any wrongdoing.