The Old Mates Act. Rod Madgwick, Frank Walker, Ian MacDonald, Greg Jones, Marcus Einfeld and many more
Thursday, 06 February 2014
Rod Madgwick joined the ALP in the Sutherland area in the 1960’s. The ALP in Sutherland was controlled by Arthur Gietzelt. When Rod Madgwick moved into Balmain in 1971 or 1972, he joined the Balmain branch of the ALP (see page 109 of this link).
Peter Baldwin was active in that part of the Party at the time - this story in the Sydney Morning Herald describes the 1980 bashing that led to this:
According to Labor luminaries, there were “irregularities” in Balmain and other surrounding branches. See chapter 3 of this link.
Use this link to take you to the SMH story “Threats, violence in bitter ALP battleground” - here's a small sample:
Arthur Gietzelt was Ian Macdonald’s mentor. Ian Macdonald was invited by Arthur Gietzelt and Tom Uren to work in NSW Attorney-General Frank Walker’s office in 1978.
Follow this link to Mark Aarons' story in The Monthly.
This story in the Sydney Morning Herald from 2009 gives more detail.
Rod Madgwick won Labor preselection for the seat of Barton in 1979, playing second fiddle to the housewife superstar in this SMH story.
We've previously reported that while Madgwick was campaigning for the seat of Barton, the telephone number listed in his campaign literature was connected to Frank Walker’s office and there was the small matter of a run in with the constabulary that saw Madgwick charged with hindering police.
The 30 year friendship of Ian Macdonald and Greg Jones started while they were employed in Frank Walker’s office:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/rees-offers-faint-support-for-lunching-minister-20090715-dljh.html
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/mates-race-45m-deal-snares-mp-20100528-wldb.html
http://www.smh.com.au/national/ministers-best-mate-was-in-on-coal-deal-20121026-28b62.html
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/magnificent-sevens-moneymaking-machine-20121207-2b11c.html
When Nick Greiner came to power in 1988 he slammed Frank Walker's office for ''consistent, persistent and widespread rorting of the public purse'' with Jones and Macdonald coming in for special mentions.
This story from the SMH in 2013 describes MacDonald's systematic corruption.
Check out how it all started in 1988.
OUT TO LUNCH: HOW ALP STAFFERS SPENT $18,500
| Author: By BERNARD LAGAN Date: 02/12/1988 Words: 741 |
Publication: Sydney Morning Herald Section: News and Features Page: 3 |
Staff employed by the former Labor Minister for Housing, Mr Frank Walker, ran up restaurant bills of $18,500 over an 18-month period using Government-issued credit cards, State Parliament was told yesterday.
The Minister for Housing, Mr Schipp, disclosed the records of lunches and dinners, some of which Mr Walker attended.
Mr Schipp said the food and drink cost NSW taxpayers an average of $108 each time the ministerial staff sat down to a Government-sponsored meal with their clients.
"Famous upmarket eateries such as Simpson's, Beppi's, Pulcinella, Lucio's, EJ's, Lee's Fortuna Court, Angus Steak Cave, Imperial Peking Harbourside and the Waterfront Restaurant were frequented by the Minister and his staff," Mr Schipp said.
He said that while the Government of the day was "out to lunch", housing waiting lists blew out to over 80,000 families.
"The Minister and his staff had adopted the attitude of 'let them eat cake'," said Mr Schipp.
He added that the affair was an exercise in gluttony.
"One would have thought that the former Minister for Housing, the champion of the Left, would have set an example and desisted from such displays of unabashed self-indulgence."
One of the former staff members named by Mr Schipp was Mr Brian Dale, press secretary to the former Premier Mr Neville Wran before joining Mr Walker's staff.
Mr Schipp said Mr Dale had spent $6,374.39 in 15 months on meals at"Sydney's most glamourous eating spots".
Mr Schipp's office claimed later that the figures showed that during a period of five days in December 1984, Mr Dale charged meals worth $800. The bills were incurred during a visit to Beppi's and another to La Rustico.
Another staff member named was Mr Ian McDonald, who was elected a Labor Member of the NSW Upper House in March.
He spent $4,062 "on an assortment of meals" during the 18-month period, said Mr Schipp.
Mr McDonald and Mr Dale appear to have had a similar taste in restaurants.
Mr McDonald incurred a bill of $250 at Beppi's in June 1985, when he discussed housing matters with Mr Walker and others.
He spent $200 at Simpson's, again with Mr Walker and another person.
The subject discussed at Simpson's, according to records, was staff matters.
Mr McDonald said last night his expenses were "incurred in the course of duty".
He rejected any suggestion that there was anything improper in the business-related expenses.
They related to meetings with Federal ministers, senior public servants, sections of the housing industry and interest groups.
But Mr Schipp said the bills were another example of the Labor Party's abuse of office.
"They will go down in history as the Gourmet Government," he said.
OUT TO LUNCH
TWENTY DOLLARS
18/8/84 Maestro Restaurant. Lunch with Frank Walker,
and six media representatives. $215.00 *
28/9/84 Glo Glo's Restaurant (Melbourne).
Lunch with Walker and Victorian Minister for Housing
and staff. Payable by Land Commission. $252.50 *
Glo Glo's Restaurant (Melbourne). Dinner with Walker,
Brian Dale and others. To be charged to YACS.
$252.00 *
17/12/84 Beppi's Restaurant. Dinner with Walker,
press secretary and media. $298.60 *
La Rustica Restaurant. Paid by NSW Land Commission. $501.95 *
21/6/85 Beppi's Restaurant. lunch with Walker,
press secretaries, special adviser and media $250.00 **
27/2/85 Imperial Peking Harbourside.
Dinner with Walker, and senior officers of Public
Service Board. $130.00 * *
* * Amount claimed by Ian MacDonald
* Amount claimed by Brian Dale
Rod Madgwick missed out on Barton in 1980 - instead of a parliamentary seat he went to the Judicial bench. By 1994 he had done very well - well enough to afford a country property that would play host to a lavish wedding as his daughter Jane married the son of Tom Hughes QC, Michael. Amongst other luminaries, Frank Walker was a guest at Jane Madgwick’s wedding.
VAUCLUSE THE PRIZE FOR LIBS' YOUNG WARRIORS
| Author: By SALLY LOANE Date: 04/03/1994 Words: 663 |
Publication: Sydney Morning Herald Section: News and Features Page: 6 |
John Brogden has never let his age handicap his political ambitions. When the former Young Liberal president was just 22, he contested Liberal Party preselection for the Labor-held State seat of Drummoyne and just lost.
Two years later, armed with several years' experience working for senior Liberals Mr John Hannaford, Mr John Fahey and Mr Ted Pickering, Mr Brogden is pitching for the blue-ribbon seat of Vaucluse, soon to be vacated by Mr Michael Yabsley.
Among those he will be up against is Mr Michael Hughes, son of Mr Tom Hughes, QC, who was the Attorney-General in the third Gorton Liberal ministry
Mr Hughes, 29, says he has been heading towards a political career since he was eight.
His brother-in-law (and employer) is the republican Mr Malcolm Turnbull and last month he married Ms Jane Madgwick, the daughter of the lawyer Ms Gail Madgwick and District Court Judge Mr Rod Madgwick, who stood unsuccessfully as an ALP candidate for the Federal seat of Barton in 1980.
Their wedding, at the Madgwicks' Bilpin property, was attended by the most celebrated warriors from conservative and Labor politics - from Sir John Atwill and Mr John Howard to Mr Frank Walker and Mr Laurie Brereton.
Mr Brogden and Mr Hughes are quite different socially, politically and philosophically. Possibly the only characteristics they share are clean-cut good looks and a Bondi Beach address.
Mr Hughes grew up in the electorate's heartland, Bellevue Hill, the son of a wealthy and wellconnected Catholic family. The first of the nine preselection candidates to announce his intention to stand, he passionately wants to represent the area in which he grew up.
Mr Brogden, also a Catholic, grew up in Balmain, the son of a carpenter -his aunt still prays that her nephew will recant and join the Labor Party.
He married into Liberal political lineage. His wife, Lucy, who works for the Liberal minister Mr Bruce Baird, is the daughter of Mr Frank Hooke, a former State Liberal Treasurer.
Mr Brogden and Mr Hughes both studied arts at university. On campus, Mr Hughes was active in the right-wing Australian Liberal Students' Federation and was also a member of the Woollahra branch of the Young Liberals. A merchant banker, Mr Hughes describes himself as a small "c" conservative and a"reluctant" republican.
"I have great faith in the institution of Parliament and I don't believe that government should interfere in people's private lives," he said. "I think it's arrogant to assume a republic is inevitable. It may develop slowly, but I don't want the nation to be split in the process."
Under Mr Brogden's 1992 leadership, the NSW Young Liberals, traditionally more "wet" than the senior party on social issues, advocated support for a republic. Mr Brogden, an articulate public speaker, also attempted to dismantle the Young Liberals' "champagne Charlie" image.
The 130 preselectors make their decision tomorrow and the favourites are Mr Brogden, Mr Hughes, a Bellevue Hill businessman, Mr Peter Debnam, 39, and Dr Pat O'Brien, 49, of Randwick.
Jane Madgwick was Ian MacDonald's “research assistant of some years standing” and good old lunchie mentioned the Madgwick Hughes nuptials in the NSW Parliament.
Recently my research assistant of some years standing, Jane Madgwick, who went to work as a tour manager for Nina Simone in 1991, returned to Australia and married Mr Michael Hughes, son of Tom Hughes, Q.C., who was the Federal Attorney- General at the time of the Vietnam conflict. Among the many guests at the wedding were the honourable member for Bennelong, Mr Atwill, a former president of the Liberal Party, and numerous other senior members of the Liberal Party were also present. In this delightful circumstance many Australian Labor Party notables were present, including former Premier Wran and a number of former Labor Ministers. It was a unity ticket that many people would dream of. It was a wedding that was really blessed in heaven. The father of the groom, the Hon. Tom Hughes, former Attorney-General at the height of the draft resistant movement in this country and the division that was being created by the then conservative Government's approach to conscription and the Vietnam war -
The Hon. Dr B. P. V. Pezzutti: And you went to his house?
The Hon. I. M. MACDONALD: Give me a chance. During the speech of Mr Tom Hughes, Q.C., to the gathering, at which Mr Tony Pooley, one of our staff, was also present, he referred to the Vietnam war and certain incidents in the past. If my memory serves me correctly - I am pretty sure that my memory is adequate - the Hon. Tom Hughes, Q.C., member of the Liberal Party, former Minister, particularly in the McMahon Government and the Gorton Government, made it clear that the Liberal Party should apologise. He personally apologised to us in relation to the involvement of the Liberal Party in the Vietnam war. He regretted it. He said that Australia's involvement in the war and his participation in the Cabinet decisions on that war were wrong. He made that clear and he apologised for that involvement. It was a stunning moment at the wedding. As I looked around at little Johnny from Bennelong I saw that he was quite shocked. Tom Hughes, Q.C., former Attorney-General of Australia, has made it clear that the Liberal Party made a mistake in going into the Vietnam war and that it should apologise. Other senior Ministers such as Chipp, have made other statements apologising for Australia's involvement.
By the way, the wedding was in February. There was an incredible sense of solidarity at the wedding except for one table - the table where little Johnny from Bennelong and Sir John Atwill were sitting enjoying a delightful meal. I believe they did not appreciate the comments to the degree that the other 250 people did, including many members of the young Liberals who were invited to the function. They take a different view of the Vietnam war from that of the old stalwarts opposite, the Hon. D. F. Moppett and the Hon. Dr B. P. V. Pezzutti. Great Australians such as the Hon. Tom Hughes, Q.C., have a conscience. The Hon. Doug Moppett certainly does not. So he can blithely forget the millions who died and take the view that whatever we did, whatever perfidies we practised and perpetuated in Vietnam for 10 years, he can forget. However, a great Australian, Tom Hughes, Q.C., had come to the conclusion that Australia's involvement was a mistake, unjust and wrong. He made it clear in front of a very large group of people who had an active interest in justice and political life in this country. In response to the furore in the past three days about Australia's attitude to the Vietnam war, notable conservatives from the period who have consciences have made statements. Some people have consciences. The Hon. Doug Moppett -
The Hon. Dr B. P. V. Pezzutti: On a point of order: I refuse to sit here and listen to the Hon. I. M. Macdonald mispronounce the name of the Hon. Doug Moppett. I also object to his use of derogatory terms such as "little Johnny" for the honourable Federal member for Bennelong. The honourable member should curtail his language and I appeal to you, Madam Deputy-President, to make him do so.
The DEPUTY-PRESIDENT (The Hon. Beryl Evans): Order! There is no point of order but I remind the Hon. I. M. Macdonald that there is a manner in which to address members in this House and I expect him to respect that and to refer to them properly.
The Hon. I. M. MACDONALD: Thank you, Madam Deputy President. I could never have called him big. Over the past few days a number of statements have been made by conservatives who have a conscience. They have come out clearly pointing out that the Vietnam war was a total disaster in which we should not have been involved. For instance, Mr Malcolm Fraser, former Prime Minister -
The Hon. Dr B. P. V. Pezzutti: Lies you tell.
The Hon. Ann Symonds: Oh! He accused you of telling lies.
The Hon. I. M. MACDONALD: Madam Deputy-President, I have no difficulty with the Hon. Dr B. P. V. Pezzutti making those sorts of interjections whenever he so desires. I will ensure that on each and every occasion that he calls Malcolm Fraser a liar he will have the opportunity of having that placed upon the record of this Chamber.
The Hon. Dr B. P. V. Pezzutti: I said that you were a liar. I did not say that Malcolm Fraser told lies.
More on the Hansard records here.
And lots more on Rod Madgwick soon.