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Just prior to entering the Senate, Sinodinos worked for the NAB. And on appointment to the Assistant Treasurer position he was tasked with reviewing the FoFA legislation. This was enacted by Labor in the wake of the Storm Financial disaster, which hit North Queenslanders particularly hard. The subsequent changes submitted by Sinodinos were embraced by the big banks, and completely rejected by the smaller financial advice firms, which make up about 50% of the industry.
Sounds awfully like a conflict of interest for a well known 'Door Opener' like Arthur.
Interestingly, when Sinodinos stepped aside, Cormann found it necessary to put the changes on hold while industry consultation took place. Sounds like either these changes were being rushed through, or Arthur doesn't understand the first thing about a good consultation process.
And then there were the lingering questions over Sinodinos' involvement in AWH, questions which have been partly answered, but mostly brushed over, at his recent ICAC appearance. For a quick histroy of AWH and Arthur's involvement, click here.
Sinodinos' performance at ICAC was reportedly poor, relying heavily on the Alan Bond defence of 'I don't recall'. As highlighted by Michelle Grattan, this was an amateurish performance from a man with a high level of experience who would be expected to perform better.
When asked how he justified being paid $200,000 per year for between 26 to 45 hours work, Sinodinos suggested travel time to meetings hadn't been included (pretty lame). And that work discussions were held at private functions on top of this... compelling counsel assisting the inquiry (Geoff Watson) to ask “what should we add on, 90 seconds over a gin and tonic?”
Added to this Sinodinos stated that he:
- had no awareness of several donations (totaling $72,000) that were made to the Liberal party (during his time as a member of the board and senior member of the party)
- as a board member, had not asked why costs were ballooning while company activity declined to almost nothing,
- did not recall a number of warnings he was given about the honesty of the company he was associated with.
What is also of concern is that Sinodinos was seemingly not aware that AWH was nearing insolvency at the time he resigned from the board to join the Senate.
While it appears Sinodinos is unfit to hold the position of Assistant Treasurer... most people will expect that Abbott is likely to return him to that position as soon as possible.
I'd say... so much for accountable government, but when has this current government ever been accountable?