Criminal charges should be bought against the former New South Wales ministers Chris Hartcher and Joe Tripodi, the Independent Commission Against Corruption has found after an investigation that has lasted years.

On Tuesday the Icac released its findings into Operation Spicer, which investigated alleged developer donations to the NSW Liberal party.

The sole corruption finding was against the former Labor ports minister Tripodi, who Icac heard leaked a Treasury memo to Nathan Tinkler’s Buildev company that benefited the company.

Icac recommended Tripodi be charged with misconduct in public office and Hartcher, a former energy minister, with lacerny.

Sitting MP Mike Gallacher did not receive a corruption finding, but Icac found he acted with the intention of evading political donation laws, as did former Liberal MPs Andrew Cornwell, Tim Owen and Hartcher. Icac recommended charges against Cornwell and his wife Samantha Brookes for giving false or misleading evidence to the commission.

Gallacher, a former police minister, has been sitting on the crossbenches since resigning from the Liberal party during the Icac investigation.

Federal senator Arthur Sinodinos was referenced in the report but Icac made no findings against him.

“As I have consistently said, I was only called as a witness by the Icac. I gave my evidence and respected the process throughout,” he said in a statement.

“Although I have long anticipated Icac’s report, the process has been personally difficult and it has taken its toll on me and my family.

“I now look forward to getting on with the job of helping to provide the good government and economic leadership that Australia needs and deserves.”



The premier, Mike Baird, introduced legal changes that prevented Icac making corruption findings against several MPs after crown prosecutor Margaret Cunneen’s high court battle with the commission.

The changes meant Gallacher and former Liberal MPs Chris Spence, Garry Edwards, Darren Webber and Marie Ficarra would not have corruption findings made by Icac if they were found to have breached electoral laws alone.

Baird defended the reforms on Tuesday afternoon and said the Operation Spicer report vindicated action taken by the Liberal party in 2014.

“The conduct revealed in today’s report by the Icac is completely unacceptable and constitutes a betrayal of public trust by both sides of politics. The Government has zero tolerance for corruption,” he said in a statement.

“The report justifies the tough actions we took between May and August 2014 when a number of former Liberal MPs permanently left the parliamentary Liberal party.”

Baird said he undertook the legal changes which prevented corruption findings because he was implementing all the recommendations of a review of Icac after the high court decision on Cuneen.

“These amendments expanded the Icac’s jurisdiction so that it can now investigate, and make findings of fact about, any alleged breach of the electoral and campaign finance laws, even if the breach would not amount to corrupt conduct,” he said.

Icac heard Cornwell had been offered $10,000 in a brown paper bag by the Newcastle mayor, Jeff McCloy, before the 2011 state election.

The MP told the commission he had been offered the cash while sitting in the mayor’s Bentley. The bag was described as either a brown paper bag or brown envelope full of $100 bills. Cornwell stood down from the Liberal party after giving the evidence in 2014.

Icac investigated allegations Spence and Webber were paid thousands of dollars by alleged Liberal party slush fund EightbyFive when they were running for office. It also investigated a New Year’s Eve fundraising dinner held for Gallacher at Circuluar Key where Buildev executives allegedly donated $66,000 to Eightbyfive.

Operation Spicer examined allegations the NSW Liberal party accepted illegal donations from developers and implicated eight Liberal party MPs who moved to the crossbench. Six of them resigned before the state election.

The then premier, Barry O’Farrell, resigned after it was revealed at an Operation Spicer hearing that he had not declared a $3,000 bottle of 1959 Grange given to him by developer Nick Di Girolamo in 2011.