Murky donation deals taint Newcastle Council's "McCloyal" bloc

If you live in the Hunter, you can be forgiven if you’re suffering ICAC fatigue, after the sensational revelations of the past few weeks, where political donation scandals have been bowling over local elected representatives like skittles.

For the ordinary punter, the unfolding soap-opera can be hard to follow. At the time of writing, the political body count has been at least two (perhaps three) Hunter state Liberal parliamentarians, and the (now former) Newcastle Lord Mayor, Jeff McCloy.

But have we seen the last of it? And how far will it spread? 

Newcastle Independent councillor Allan Robinson (Ward 4) has already been mentioned in ICAC in relation to an alleged funding arrangement with Jeff McCloy during the 2012 Newcastle Council elections for payment for his how-to-vote cards. That allegation is contested.

Since the 2012 council election, I’ve commented frequently in this column on the close relationship between Jeff McCloy and Newcastle’s Liberal councillors. 

After Mr McCloy’s election, the four Liberal councillors formed such a solid voting bloc with him and the two Independents, Allan Robinson and Andrea Rufo, that council watchers labelled them “the McLiberals” or “the McCloyals”.

Their close relationship was already evident in the 2012 election, when the Liberals did not contest the Lord Mayoral election, and Jeff McCloy did not stand group tickets in the wards.

Instead, Mr McCloy stood as an Independent for Lord Mayor with the Liberal Party’s open endorsement, making him effectively the Liberal Lord Mayoral candidate. In return, Mr McCloy endorsed the Liberal Party ward tickets for Wards 1, 2 and 3, together with Clr Robinson in Ward 4, who were effectively Jeff McCloy’s ward teams.

Josh Hodges, a local Liberal Party identity who has appeared before the ICAC in association with the processing of political donations from prohibited donors, helped to coordinate Mr McCloy’s council campaign (after the election, Mr McCloy tried to have him appointed on the council payroll as a Lord Mayoral assistant). 

So close was the relationship between the McCloy and Liberal camps that they prominently advertised each other on the how-to-vote cards they distributed to voters as they entered the polling booths, allowing them to double-up on their election day advertising exposure. 

This donation to each other doesn’t appear to have made it into the election funding disclosures of either camp.

On election night, the McCloy and Liberal campaign teams even held a joint party.

Clearly, these mutual arrangements were planned and deliberate.

ICAC has already given us non-developer developers, with the former Lord Mayor arguing to ICAC that he didn’t meet the legal definition of a property developer while arguing exactly the opposite to the High Court less than a month before. 

Is this now the case of non-donation donations?

In any case, it does provide intriguing context for the staunch defence of the former Lord Mayor by Newcastle’s Deputy (and now Acting) Lord Mayor, Liberal councillor Brad Luke, when pretty much everyone else (including the Liberal Premier, Mike Baird) was calling on Jeff McCloy to at least stand aside, if not to resign.

Councillor Luke was elected with the assistance of election day advertising paid for by Mr McCloy.

Subsequently, as I wrote in this column at the time, Councillor Luke’s election to Deputy Lord Mayor, which broke the established Newcastle Council tradition of sharing the Deputy role among interested councillors, was the first significant vote of the McLiberal/McCloyal bloc after the September 2012 council election, setting the pattern for what was to follow.