Former NSW minister Ian Macdonald did not show 'favour' over mining licence, court hears
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Former NSW Labor minister Ian Macdonald did not show any favour to a mining company headed by a "mate" when he granted a licence without a tender, a Supreme Court trial has been told.
Macdonald is on trial accused of misconduct in public office by inviting Doyle's Creek Mining Pty Ltd to apply for an exploration licence in the Hunter Valley in 2007, and for giving the company the licence in 2008.
The crown case is that Macdonald — who was minister for primary industries and mineral resources at the time — "misused" his power by granting the licence without a competitive tender.
The court has previously heard the company was headed by his "mate", former union boss John Maitland, and that the decision lost the state tens of millions of dollars at a time of "budget constraints."
But Macdonald's barrister Matthew Johnston SC said there was no dispute the licence was granted without a tender but, as minister at the time, Macdonald was within his right to do so.
Decisions were legal, barrister tells court
He said Macdonald could have used a tender process but he also had the authority to grant the licence by allocation.
"His decisions were legal," Mr Matthews said.
"We reject that he acted against the advice of Primary Industries staff."
Macdonald believed he was acting in the best interests of the state, Mr Johnston said.
He said the Doyle's Creek application was very different from other mine exploration licence applications because it involved a training mine and it proposed links to the community including Newcastle University.
"This application was quite novel in its content and the partnerships it put together."
Mr Johnston said his client judged the application on its merit and did not show any favour to Doyle's Creek Mining.
He said it was not a regular mine licence application but there was nothing improper about it.
The court has already heard Maitland later sold some of his shares in a company that acquired Doyle's Creek Mining for more than $6 million.
Mr Johnston also rejected the crown argument that Macdonald and Maitland were friends.
They only had a professional relationship, he told the court.
Maitland — who is also standing trial — has pleaded not guilty to charges of aiding misconduct in public office.
His barrister Dean Jordan SC said he has been involved in trying to improve mine safety for most of his working life.
Topics: courts-and-trials, law-crime-and-justice, mining-industry, industry, government-and-politics, nsw
