Late-night internal attack derails Labor preselection

NSW Labor frontbencher Tania Mihailuk’slate-night attack on Canterbury-Bankstown mayor Khal Asfour has resurrected years-old corruption woes within the party,less than six months from the next state election.

Mihailuk set out to derail the party’s upper house ticket in an extraordinary speech in parliament on Tuesday night,in which she linked Asfour,who is on Labor’s proposed upper house ticket,to corrupt former minister Eddie Obeid.

Bankstown Labor MP Tania Mihailuk.

Bankstown Labor MP Tania Mihailuk.AAP

The upper house ticket is set to be endorsed by the party’s state conference next month,and also includes newcomers Cessnock nurse Emily Suvaal,Dubbo barrister Stephen Lawrence and bureaucrat Sarah Kaine.

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.

“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.

“I raise my legitimate and longstanding concerns regarding Asfour’s character and his unprincipled actions in furthering the interests of developers and identities,in particular Eddie Obeid,who went to his wedding,adorning him with a generous gift,as Asfour boasted at the time,and remained steadfastly committed to ensuring Asfour would be mayor throughout the period of redeveloping the landholdings in Bankstown.”

Canterbury-Bankstown mayor Khal Asfour.

Canterbury-Bankstown mayor Khal Asfour.James Brickwood

There has been bitter infighting within Labor over preselection in the south-west of Sydney because boundary redistributions have seen the abolition of the seat of Lakemba,forcing Labor MPs,including Mihailuk,to shift seats.

Apart from his friendship with the twice–jailed former powerbroker Eddie Obeid,Asfour previously raised eyebrows over his former dealings with Bechara Khouri,a controversial Labor Party “fixer” who has been on the payroll of a number of developers to act as a lobbyist.

A city planner toldThe Sydney Morning Herald of his “surprise” in 2014 when he turned up at a meeting in a Chullora coffee shop with his developer client to find “Mr B” (as Khouri is known) had brought along Asfour. The two men appeared very “buddy,buddy”,the planner said.

Asked by theHerald if he had ever met a developer with Khouri,Asfour replied:“It’s hard for me to recall.” He also said he hadn’t spoken to Bechara “for a long time”.

NSW Labor frontbencher Tania Mihailuk speaking in parliament on Tuesday night. Vision:NSW parliament

Pushed as to whether he’d spoken to Khouri since the ICAC inquiry,Asfour said “if I have it would only be because I ran into[him] somewhere and said hello”.

Khouri was at the centre of the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s long-running inquiry into corrupt planning activities at Canterbury City Council.

The inquiry heard in March 2016,Khouri hosted a meeting at his Enfield house to discuss the amalgamation of Canterbury and Bankstown councils,and who would get the crucial role of head of planning.

Asfour attended Khouri’s meeting representing Bankstown while Canterbury was represented by the general manager,Jim Montague,and councillors Michael Hawatt and Pierre Azzi,the trio were later found to be corrupt.

Asfour hit back on Wednesday,labelling Mihailuk’s attack on him “gutless and a slur on his good reputation and standing in the community”. He said it “reeks of sour grapes at being overlooked on Labor’s upper house ticket”.

“I challenge her to repeat those outrageous and unsubstantiated claims outside the Parliament”,Asfour said.

“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.”

Mihailuk warned that should Asfour’s name remain on the Labor ticket at conference,it would be cemented by the leadership of the Labor Party,a move she said would be disastrous.

“And indeed the wider public would have to question what the Labor Party’s operation mantra is going to be under a potential Minns Labor government if we can’t deliver new blood that is not tainted,” she told Parliament.

“I have never taken a backwards step against corruption,and I never will. I will have more to say about Asfour and this council in the coming weeks.

“All of this puts Barilaro’s issue into the shade. A $500,000-a-year job versus tens of millions – potentially hundreds of millions. It pales into insignificance. Can we truly cry foul of our opponents? I think not.”

Several senior party sources said Mihailuk’s move would overshadow Labor leader Chris Minns’ major announcement on safe staffing levels for nurses,which he unveiled on Wednesday morning.

Minns said he planned to meet with Mihailuk on Wednesday afternoon to discuss why she decided to air the allegations in parliament. He also said Asfour had referred those allegations to the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

“I’m going to take steps to talk to Tanya Mihailuk today about two things;firstly the nature of the corruption that she’s alleged has taken place and whether she’s referred those matters to ICAC or other authorities,” Minns said.

“I think it’s very important to understand that Mr Asfour has personally referred it to the ICAC himself,completely denies the allegations ... and I’ll find out what she has to say this afternoon.”

Minns said he did not know what motivated Mihailuk’s late-night speech,or why she had not raised the issues with him before airing them in parliament.

“It’s difficult for me to glean what were her intentions with the speech that she made at 11.30 last night in the NSW Parliament ... I need to discuss with her the nature of it and find out what her motivations were,” he said.

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Alexandra Smith is the State Political Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.

Kate McClymont is chief investigative reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.

Tom Rabe is the WA political correspondent,based in Perth.

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