The electoral oversight body in New South Wales has discreetly resumed its inquiry into accusations that Premier Chris Minns may have attempted to circumvent state donation regulations. At least two significant witnesses have already been interviewed in a confidential manner.
According to reports from ABC News, former staff members of the NSW Labor Party, David Latham and Kenrick Cheah, have been summoned and subsequently questioned by the NSW Electoral Commission regarding these allegations.
The controversy centers around a fundraising event that took place in 2014 at the Sunny Seafood restaurant, which was organized to benefit Mr. Minns, who was then the Labor candidate for Kogarah. The dinner was hosted by the Chinese Friends of Labor (CFOL) group.
Renewed scrutiny of this event was prompted in November when Mr. Latham submitted an affidavit to a parliamentary inquiry. In this document, he claimed that Mr. Minns had received substantial unreceipted donations and expressed a desire to incorporate these funds into his campaign finances.
It is important to note that ABC News does not endorse the truthfulness of Mr. Latham’s claims; it merely reports that these allegations have been made.
Mr. Cheah, who previously served as the community relations director for NSW Labor and played a role in organizing the dinner, also chose not to provide comments for this article.
Additionally, ABC News has uncovered that the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was informed of Mr. Latham’s claims against Mr. Minns in April 2019. However, this information was not relayed to the electoral commission, which was concurrently investigating related issues.
It was not until Mr. Latham’s allegations were presented to the parliamentary inquiry in November that ICAC revisited the matter, retrieved Mr. Latham’s April 2019 testimony, and forwarded it to the electoral commission.
This oversight hindered a thorough investigation into a significant allegation against one of the state’s prominent politicians, as the electoral commission is responsible for regulating political donations.
It is expected that other influential figures, including former upper house member Ernest Wong and Jonathan Yee, the restaurateur and CFOL convener, may also be interviewed by the electoral commission. Neither of these individuals responded to ABC News’ requests for statements.
On Thursday, Mr. Minns refrained from confirming whether he had been interviewed, stating that he could not discuss ongoing investigations. He firmly denied any wrongdoing related to this or any electoral matters, specifically rejecting suggestions of collusion regarding donations.
The fundraising dinner at Sunny Seafood, which was later reported to have generated under $6,000 from ten contributors, was previously disclosed by ABC News to have actually hosted nearly 200 attendees.
The electoral commission initially looked into the purported conspiracy surrounding the Sunny Seafood event from 2019 to 2023 but did not release its findings to the public.
Last year, it was reported during a parliamentary inquiry that two unnamed individuals had been referred to the NSW prosecutor’s office concerning this issue. ABC News has since learned that an additional two individuals have also been referred, bringing the total number of potential charges in this scandal to four.
Following the emergence of Mr. Latham’s allegations, the electoral commission chose to reopen its investigation, having not previously been notified by ICAC about Mr. Latham’s testimony.
Central to this inquiry is a transcript of Mr. Latham’s interview with ICAC investigators in April 2019, which includes his claim that shortly after the Sunny Seafood dinner, Mr. Minns contacted him to discuss unrecorded cash from the event and inquired about how to report it for his campaign.
In Australia, all donations to politicians must disclose the identity of the donor to ensure transparency in political funding. Attempts to bypass these regulations can result in criminal charges.
In February, Mark Latham, a member of the NSW upper house (unrelated to David Latham), highlighted ICAC’s failure to relay pertinent information during a parliamentary session, although he provided no evidence to substantiate his claims.
ABC News has confirmed that the communication lapse did occur, having spoken to two individuals aware of the situation who verified that ICAC conducted an interview with David Latham and created a transcript in April 2019.
The rationale behind ICAC’s decision not to share this transcript with the electoral commission remains unclear, and the agency has declined to comment on the matter.
Similarly, the electoral commission has refrained from providing any response, citing confidentiality laws.
David Latham’s allegations against Mr. Minns only became public last year during a parliamentary committee review, which was investigating concerns over the electoral commission’s handling of the Sunny Seafood case.
Mr. Minns has consistently maintained that the Sunny Seafood affair was thoroughly investigated by both ICAC and the electoral commission in previous years. However, it is evident that ICAC did not have the jurisdiction to assess the specific allegations surrounding the Sunny Seafood dinner, while the electoral commission, which did conduct an investigation between 2019 and 2023, is restricted by law from discussing its findings or revealing whether Mr. Minns is considered a person of interest.
The electoral law violations at the center of the Sunny Seafood incident would likely have remained undiscovered if not for an ICAC investigation into a similar alleged fundraising irregularity at another CFOL dinner shortly before the state election in March 2015.
