ICAC inquiry examines council misconduct and mayoral vehicle controversy

In between the Beirut bedroom rantings of fugitive Jean Nassif, the latest delicious episode of the ICAC has turned to Strathfield Council, where the order of the day appears to be scheming, double-dealing, broken promises and clandestine meetings in dark corners of establishments such as the Horse & Jockey Hotel.

At the heart of these Machiavellian manipulations appears to be the desire to attire oneself in the crimson mayoral robes, wear the heavy, silver-linked chain and have use of the mayoral wheels: a Toyota.

Listening to the evidence unfold was like watching a rerun of the entertaining documentary Rats in the Ranks.

“Leading up to the 1994 mayoral election, the three contenders for the position of mayor of the inner west council of Leichhardt, including Mayor Larry Hand, allowed themselves to be filmed for a documentary,” wrote author Robert Drew in a review for the Herald in 1996.

“As the clock ticks down to 7pm, September 7, 1994, when the councillors are to meet in the council chambers to cast their vote, arms are twisted and favours called in. Damaging stories are leaked to the media. People are double-crossed, then triple-crossed. But right up to the moment of voting, no one knows if the numbers will stick. And the filmmakers … are intimate observers of all this treachery and backstabbing.”

Giving his version of Strathfield’s very own Rats in the Ranks is former mayor and current councillor Matthew Blackmore, a local real estate agent.

In January 2023, then-mayor Blackmore took notes, which he passed on to the Independent Commission Against Corruption, of an extraordinary meeting with then-councillor Sharangan Maheswaran, who told him that for the past five months he had been trailed by a private investigator who secretly recorded meetings at cafes and pubs.

“He had surveillanced [sic] me for five months and he was going to use that against me,” Blackmore told the inquiry.

Not only did Blackmore receive calls that same weekend from two News Corp journalists asking him questions about meeting a property developer, but a few days later a flyer (otherwise known as a “shit sheet”) was left on his car. Blackmore saw the nasty allegations on the flyer as a hint of what was heading his way, if he didn’t relinquish the mayoralty.

On March 2, 2023, Karen Pensabene became mayor of Strathfield.

After the local government elections back in December 2021, there was much horse-trading between the various councillors. Blackmore, an independent, struck a deal with Maheswaran and Pensabene that he would be mayor for a year before handing over the keys to the mayoral Toyota to Pensabene.

But he had also reached an informal agreement to support another independent councillor for the mayor’s position, the inquiry heard.

“Is it common to reach these types of informal agreements for support before each mayoral election?” asked counsel assisting Hugo Wilesmith.

“Every mayoral election,” replied Blackmore.

“And it’s common for candidates to renege on the deals they make, is that fair?” Wilesmith asked.

“Yes. Yes,” answered Blackmore.

“Did you intend to honour this agreement?”

Blackmore answered flatly, “No.”

As the time approached for Blackmore to honour his deal to hand over the mayoralty to Pensabene, it became clear he wanted to stay on as mayor.

Against this backdrop of broken promises, Maheswaran, who had been working for fugitive developer Jean Nassif, engaged a private investigator who followed Blackmore for five months leading up to January 2023. The inquiry has since heard that it was Nassif who footed the bill for the surveillance of Blackmore.

Towards the back of the hearing room, Maheswaran, who was sitting next to his barrister, his right leg jigging at a rapid pace, listened to the evidence of his nemesis.

He whispered to his barrister, Sebastian De Brennan, who questioned Blackmore about the photos Blackmore had shown around of what he claimed was Maheswaran’s car parked outside a brothel, understood to be the Croydon Palace, which happens to be in Blackmore’s street.

More arm-twistings and double-dealings of the Strathfield Rodentia are likely to feature when Maheswaran, who has been suspended from the Labor Party, gives evidence on Friday.

In her opening address, Dr Peggy Dwyer, SC, said that the third matter in this long-running inquiry would examine allegations that councillors Maheswaran and Pensabene “engaged in conduct” towards Blackmore “which could involve blackmail and/or possible breaches of the Surveillance Devices Act 2007”.

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