NSW Labor MP for Kogarah, Cherie Burton, who was silent in State Parliament throughout this year’s tumultuous proceedings, arrived in the Legislative Assembly at the March 1999 election as one of then Premier Bob Carr’s “favorites”.
She had fought in the trenches of Young Labor on behalf of the right-wing faction, rising to become Australian Young Labor President in the early 1990s.
Ms Burton’s entire career has been as a factional player in NSW ALP politics and, in many ways, mirrors the working life of her former colleague, Reba Meagher.
Meagher rose from the same factional swamp to become Cabramatta MP in 1995 and Health Minister in the Iemma government before quitting in September when she was dropped from Nathan Rees’s first Cabinet.
Ms Burton worked as an organiser for the late Frank Belan’s National Union of Workers for three years before joining the fulltime staff of the NSW Labor Council, now Unions NSW. Her big break came in 1997, when Carr appointed her as a senior adviser in the Premier’s Department.
In her inaugural speech on May 12, 1999, Ms Burton paid tribute to her friends and supporters, a roll-call of all the usual suspects in Labor’s right-wing cabal: John Della Bosca (now Health Minister, who she described as “the best campaigner and political strategist in the country”), Eric Roozendaal (NSW Treasurer), Mark Arbib (now a senator, who she said had “encouraged me, provided advice, and above all has been a close personal friend”), Karl Bitar (now ALP federal secretary), Matthew Thistlethwaite (newly-appointed ALP state secretary and former partner of Reba Meagher) and Bill Saravinovski (current mayor of Rockdale).
The one sour note was her acknowledgement of the support of Adam McCormick, a Rockdale councillor who subsequently went to jail following a corruption inquiry by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
Ms Burton easily claimed the Kogarah pre-selection with the assistance of the Sussex Street machine and she has been awarded the seat at every election since — 2003 and 2007 — without having to face a rank-and-file pre-selection.
Carr appointed her as his Parliamentary Secretary in April 2003 and also give a hint of future intentions when gave her a dual role as Parliamentary Secretary to his Health Minister Morris Iemma.
When Iemma succeeded Carr in August 2005, he promoted her to Housing Minister and minister assisting Health Minister John Hatzistergos: with a spot in Cabinet, the Kogarah MP looked set for a platinum career in Governor Macquarie Tower.
In the lead-up to the 2003 and 2007 elections, Ms Burton raised a formidable $219,348 in political donations, which helped her to blitz her opponents and hold her seat with a large majority.
According to Greens research and official declarations, her fund-raising for the 2003 campaign included two donations recorded as “Macquarie Bank $750” and “Macquarie Bank: Susan Gray $300”, an individual donation of $1000 from Gail Kelly, then CEO of St George Bank, $1500 from the ALP consultancy Hawker Britton and a stunning $33,500 from the overflowing war chest of Frank Sartor, then Labor candidate in the neighbouring seat of Rockdale.
Her old factional accomplice Joe Tripodi, MP for Fairfield, kicked in $2000.
Before the 2007 election, Macquarie Bank donated $300 at a fund-raiser, the Jewish Labor Forum gave $1000, former ALP general secretary Stephen Loosley $1000, Clubs NSW $2500, Hawker Britton $1000, the Electrical Trades Union $1000 and the NSW Nurses Association, which is a non-affiliated union, gave two donations totalling $2500.
In her return to the NSW Election Funding Authority for the period from April 24, 2007 to June 30, 2008, Ms Burton disclosed that she received another $13,000 from three corporate supporters — Cosmos E.C. Commerce Ltd $10,000, Macquarie Bank $2000 and St George Bank $1000. All the donations were paid in cash.
Her declaration was witnessed by the duly recognised official agent, Brendan Cavanagh, the NSW Labor Party’s executive officer and a failed upper house candidate at the 2007 election.
Tomorrow: Cherie Burton part three: Kogarah voters left in the lurch.
Is it a silly question to ask why MPs are holding cash staches able to be nicked? Queensland’s Member for Broadwater Peta Kaye Croft also had thousands taken by another MPs daughter who of course was jailed without a whisper. MP senior flew off to Thailand permanently to settle after setting up home there at the expanse of Qld taxpayers – Robert Poole is the guys name. Its fair comment to say MPs have moved to Mafia status as they and their associates get pinged for statutory crimes and ripping off taxpayers as their parties suppress the details. Its time to go to electorates on MP crime!!!
It’s a relatively minor point, but in respect of the statement “she has been awarded the seat at every election since — 2003 and 2007 — without having to face a rank-and-file pre-selection”, it is very rare for sitting Labor MPs to have to face pre-selection once elected, at least in my experience. It happens occasionally when an MP is part of a faction which has greatly decreased in strength and the knives come out. I’m no expert on NSW Labor, but in SA we saw it happen in the late ’90s with a couple of state MPs, but it’s generally a very rare thing as I understand this.
You’re right Dave – only when NSW Head Office intervenes as it did with Bryce Gaudry in Newcastle after he got involved with the Milton Orkopoulos case – do you get the shove. In that instance the Sussex Street thugs parachuted in a virtual Merri Rose (meaning political and party novice – she became a member to sit for the seat) after Bryce went to the support of Milton’s still out of work electorate officer Gillian Sneddon. And why Cherie wasn’t booted over failing to report to police the theft of $16,000 from her electorate office by an employee instead referring the matter to the Legislative Assembly (used similarly by Orkopoulos to sack Sneddon) is beyond anyone. It was left to Adam Walters (paramour to the now departed Reba Meagher) to alert the law in his role as a channel Nine reporter. ICAC dealt with it but the outcome went into the ether. As most of our political embarrasments do in the interests of avoiding bi-elections.
So Cherie worked with the John Hatzistergos ( motto : “lock ’em up and throw away the keys”) in his health portfolio !. What role did she play in Hatzistergos’ decimation of NSW Health during his tenure ?. That mess was handed over to the hapless Reba Meagher, who despite being fairly incompetant was unable to do much with the health minsitry. Hopefull Della Bosca can rescue hospitals.
I hope you intend to include the rather embarrasing episode Burton suffered during her reign as Housing Minsiter.