Revelations the New South Wales Liberal party took illegal donations while Arthur Sinodinos was treasurer and finance director have caused the senator “constant stress” and impacted on his children, he says.
The federal cabinet secretary and former Howard government adviser last week week declined to give evidence before a Senate inquiry into Liberal fundraising groups such as the Free Enterprise Foundation (FEF).
The inquiry is the latest in a series of investigations into a scheme before the 2011 NSW election to “wash” donations from property developers – illegal at the time – into Liberal party coffers.
Sinodinos at the time was the party’s treasurer and chair of its finance committee, but has denied any knowledge that a “substantial” amount of the $700,000 donated by the FEF had come from property developers.
He told Sydney’s Daily Telegraph on Monday: “I’ve been under constant stress for the last three years over this.”
“I’ve lived with that, my family have lived with it, and frankly it is something I would like to see the back of,” he said.
“It’s also impacted on the family, on our living arrangements and on my eldest son at school — he gets asked questions: ‘Oh what’s your dad been up to?’
“The two younger ones are shielded from it, (but) I’ve been concerned for him.”
The findings of an Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) inquiry into the donations have been delayed more than 12 months. Sinodinos admitted to Icac he had done “nothing” to determine whether the FEF funds were legally sourced, but the commission has indicated he will be spared any adverse findings.
Nonetheless, he said the speculation over his role had left him anxious about his public reputation.
“I don’t want anybody to feel sorry for me but I hope people will give me a fair hearing because I’ve devoted almost all of my life to public service, and that is not the trait of someone that is just out seeking things for themselves,” he said.
Last week’s Senate inquiry into the FEF and other fundraising groups was “a witch hunt”, he said.
“I’ve been through two exhaustive and exhausting inquiries and I’ve answered questions in the parliament about this going back two or three years, and I have been as accountable as anybody, if not more so.”
The NSW premier, Mike Baird, said in March the party had done “the wrong thing” after the state’s electoral commission ruled the donations had breached electoral funding laws. The commission has also withheld $4.38m in electoral funding until the party discloses the identity of the FEF donors.
Sinodinos has threatened to take legal action over the report, which named the former assistant treasurer’s testimony to Icac as part of the evidence it relied upon.
He has also been questioned over his role as deputy director of Australian Water Holdings, which is accused of defrauding the publicly-owned Sydney Water and donating $183,000 to an alleged Liberal party slush fund.
