By JONATHON HOWARD
FORMER Member for Northern Tablelands Richard Torbay is facing fresh allegations after claims he received one of the largest personal donations in Australia’s political history.
Documents, obtained by the Green Party, show Mr Torbay received a large personal donation after he met with the owner of a historic house who was determined to get the home’s heritage listing overturned.
The documents show that Mr Torbay arranged a meeting in June 2010, which led to former Planning Minister Tony Kelly revoking the heritage order on the property.
The decision allowed Cameron McCullagh, the owner of the property, built on Sydney’s north shore in 1938, to alter it.
Six months after the meeting, the private investment company GEGM, owned by Mr McCullagh’s wife, donated $100,000 to Mr Torbay.
Greens MP John Kaye told the ABC that the events should be referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).
“The chain of events raise serious questions about what happened in Mr Torbay’s office and the lifting of the heritage order,” Mr Kaye said.
“This is a matter that rightly belongs before ICAC.
“We’ll be referring it to the Independent Commission Against Corruption to investigate carefully what was the impact of the donation that was made to Mr Torbay.”
Mr Kaye says ICAC should establish whether the house was destroyed as a result of the donation.
“During the last days of Labor, we saw a lot of adverse behaviour,” he said.
“We’re concerned that this may be another example. We want ICAC to investigate.”
