By
Glenn Dyer

Only in
Sydney do business people and former politicians
have no shame like we’ve seen this week with the silly State Parliamentary
inquiry into the Cross City tunnel.

At the
start of the week we had the unedifying spectacle of an arrogant former Premier
in Bob the Macquarie Lobbyist Carr, and his former Treasurer, Michael Eagan
defending their handling of the tunnel contract when in
power.

They
were contemptuous of the inquiry (which deserved as much as it gave being poorly
prepared and just a way of the ALP Government controlling the debate) and
Tuesday there was more of the same.

The
head of the Cross City Tunnel operating company Paul Sansom claimed that there were a number of roads that could
be re-opened without any penalty being incurred by the Government, but he then
back flipped later in the day and suggested the company could sue if there was
an attempt to re-open roads.

He then
yesterday said he had made a mistake. Here’s a good report in the Sydney Daily
Tele

(https://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,20281,17492828-5001022,00.html).

But the
part of the hearing yesterday that caught the eye was the arrogant effort by
former Premier Nick Greiner, chairman of the tunnel’s builder, Baulderstone Hornibrook.

This is
what the Tele reported:

“And it got worse for the
Government later when former Liberal premier Nick Greiner livened up the inquiry
with a savaging of Premier Morris Iemma’s handling of
the public outcry.

‘Mr Greiner, chairman of Baulderstone Hornibrook – which
built the $680 million tunnel – said Mr Iemma and his Roads Minister Joe Tripodi had been the weakest link in the whole tunnel
debate.

But the Tele also had the most fascinating
snippet on the same page (but not on line) which underlined the arrogance of
Greiner, Carr and Egan.

The Tele reported that Michael Egan had
waived a $2.5 million in stamp duty that was owed by the Cross City Motorway
Consortium, an undisclosed subsidy to the company which Nick Greiner chaired,
and its partners in the tunnel.

A similar arrangement, for an undisclosed
amount, is in place with the about to open M7 Westlink
built by Leighton Holdings, Macquarie Bank and Transurban, which now also owns the M2 Motorway in
Sydney.

The paper said the deals were mentioned in
emails between lawyers for the RTA and an RTA (Roads and Traffic Authority)
director.

Egan wanted the money paid to the office of
State Revenue, but it would then be returned to the Cross City MotorWay and Westlink via a refund
from the RTA, thus hiding the end result of the transaction from public
scrutiny.

The Government could claim the stamp duty
money had been paid to the Government, which it had, without having to mention
the refund from the RTA.

A arrogant piece of financial
juggling so common of Michael Eagan in his time as State Treasurer. No wonder
Nick Greiner appeared yesterday to attack the present NSW Government and support
Carr and Egan.