By Andrew Cantwell
IBAC investigations into property dealings within the City of Casey have revealed that being a ‘friend’ of wealthy property developer John Woodman certainly pays.
In public hearings over the last week, the ‘value’ of having Mr Woodman’s friendship has been accounted in excruciating detail.
In his opening remarks Counsel assisting Michael Tovey QC indicated he would present evidence that showed about $1.2 million had been directed to just two of Casey Council’s 11 councillors.
The hearings would also look at gifts, pro bono services, donations and other hospitality more generally, Mr Tovey said.
Mr Tovey said that $1.2 million sum consisted of about $900,000 to Cr Sam Aziz and about $300,000 to Cr Geoff Ablett.
These were paid in services and consultancies that Mr Tovey generally characterised as overly generous and of questionable value.
And over the course of the past week the payments detailed at the hearings by Mr Tovey continued to stack up.
As did the favours.
They included:
* Payment of a $30,000 tax bill for Cr Aziz.
* Payment of $25,000 towards a credit card bill for Cr Ablett.
* Payment of $5000 for Mr Ablett’s share in a racehorse.
* The ‘investment’ of $600,000 in loose cash delivered in a suitcase by Cr Aziz to Mr Woodman around the time of his marriage breakdown.
* Help with a property boundary realignment for Cr Ablett’s Gippsland farm property.
* Help for a time with out-of-hours care for Cr Amanda Stapledon’s disabled adult son.
* Help with obtaining adult permanent accommodation with Blairlogie, where Cr Stapledon’s son is cared for.
* And various fundraisers and donations towards state and local elections involving councillors Ablett, Stapledon, Rowe and Serey.
While the nature of Mr Woodman’s beneficial relationship with Cr Ablett – going back at least to 2012 – has been probed a number of times through the hearings, Mr Woodman has been much clearer in identifying his relationship with Cr Stapledon.
In the fifth day of hearings, on Monday 25 November, IBAC Commissioner Robert Redlich QC asked Mr Woodman directly: “Were you friends?”
“Well, I looked after her or attempted to give her some assistance with her son who was mentally unwell. Friends, yes, I would put her in the category of a friend, yes, sir,” Mr Woodman affirmed.
In relation to Cr Aziz, on the fourth day of hearings on Thursday 21 November, during revelation of surveillance coverage of a meeting in early 2018, Mr Tovey asserted that IBAC operatives had overheard Mr Woodman refer to Cr Aziz in terms of a friendship and that there had “been business” between them – an assertion that Mr Woodman was not able to confirm.
“But the term ‘friendship’ may have been used,” Mr Woodman said.
In the course of the hearings, Mr Woodman has been accused of having undue influence – of pulling the strings behind the scenes – of having a close and controlling relationship with councillors and politicians in relation to property developments at many levels, to further his interests either directly through Watsons-related entities or in relation to his son Heath’s development company Wolfdene.
One of the aims of the IBAC hearings was to give transparency to – to shine a light on – ‘friendships’ between public officers and developers that had not happened through other public channels – not through council meetings, not through press releases and not through public statements by those involved.
The the light of that inquiry some of these friendships appear pale – or worse, transparent. They seem entered into more for utility that for admiration, honour or respect.
The release by IBAC of transcripts of intercepted phone conversations between Mr Woodman and some of his associates and targetted councillors certainly paint in them a different light.
Cr Aziz is talked about as a d***head and a fool, Cr Stapledon is referred to as “Fat Mandy” and – in the run-up to last year’s mayoral race – Mr Woodman withheld information from aspirant Cr Ablett on dealings with Cr Stapledon, who went on to become mayor.
Friendship has different meanings to different people, but few would confuse an alliance of convenience with a true friendship.
The revelations coming out of the IBAC hearings may have some asking whether the price of ‘friendship’ was worth the cost.
