Chris Minns announced that Tim Crakanthorp would resign over private family holdings.Credit:Kate Geraghty
The property is on the same road as other significant commercial landholdings belonging to a company owned and controlled by Joe Manitta and his wife Santina.
Joe Manitta,who has significant land holdings throughout Newcastle,did not return theHerald’s calls on Wednesday night.
In 2014 Crakanthorp came under fire over plans for a road bypass near the city’s rail corridor which would require purchasing land owned by Manitta. At the time Crakanthorp said he had disclosed that link while a city councillor.
But Manitta also owns land in Broadmeadow through business holdings close to the property he sold to his daughter in 2021.
The mostly industrial land in Broadmeadow – a suburb in Newcastle’s west – is part of a significant planned residential housing redevelopment.
Sources told theHerald on Wednesday that major landholders in the area have been in discussions with the Department of Planning about a potential sale to make way for new housing.
Minns said that he was unaware of any personal benefits Crakanthorp or his family might have attained.
“But I do have concerns about potentially acting as Minister for the Hunter given the scale and size of the private holdings held by his family in the Hunter region,” Minns said.
In a statement,Crakanthorp said he “self-reported” the breach of the ministerial code of conduct,saying he would continue as the member for Newcastle.
“I am disappointed. This is not what we want.“:NSW Premier Chris Minns announces the sacking of Crakanthorp.Credit:Dion Georgopoulos
Crakanthorp would be forced step aside from the government party room if the Independent Commission Against Corruption decided to investigate the allegations of misconduct,Minns said.
Labor MPs who spoke on the condition of anonymity said incoming ministers had been given extensive briefings on their disclosure obligations after they were sworn in,with the expectations of disclosing family holdings made clear.
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman called for Minns to release the details around Crakanthorp’s sacking,particularly if there were any conflicts of interest related to his familial property holdings and his ministerial decisions.
“We know from experience that those referrals and ICAC investigations can take a considerable time. It’s in the public interest to know immediately what are the effective decisions and what the premier proposes to do about them,” Speakman said.
Minns said he was “disappointed” by having to sack a minister so early into his government’s four-year term,saying the breach of the ministerial code conflicted with the undertaking he gave to the NSW public.
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“Obviously,we were elected not long ago with a promise to restore trust and integrity to public matters and public life breaches of the ministerial code in this manner,are a clear breach of that undertaking,” he said.
Crakanthorp becomes the first minister in the Minns government to lose their job,just four months after Labor came to power.
Minns said Crakanthorp’s failure to disclose the property holdings “has also given rise to concerns that he may have acted in matters in which he had a conflict between his public duties and private interests of members of his family”.
“I am disappointed. This is not what we want. We want to have a cabinet that the people of NSW can trust in and have faith in.”
But the premier said this case was a “clear breach” of the ministerial standards and consequently,he had to take immediate action.
Deputy Premier and Education Minister Prue Car will assume Crakanthorp’s education-related responsibilities,while Police Minister Yasmin Catley will take on the Hunter portfolio,both on an interim basis.
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