THERE'S a lesson I learnt playing sport as a kid, that helped while I was reporting on child sexual abuse in the Hunter.
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When those you're challenging play the man or woman and not the ball, keep challenging. You're probably hitting the mark. Hunter Development Corporation chairman Paul Broad might want to give that some thought, after his comment this week about NSW Greens justice spokesman David Shoebridge as "an eastern suburbs greenie who had to get his Gregory's out to find his way to Newcastle".
And what did Mr Shoebridge do to cop the verbal equivalent of a soccer player's slide tackle to an opponent's shins while the ball sails off into the sunset?
He asked a question in Parliament on Tuesday. Here it is, in full: "When will the government be demanding the resignation of Mr Bob Hawes, the general manager of the Hunter Development Corporation, given that he has a clear conflict of interest as half owner of a $60 million development site right next to Wickham Station - exactly where Mr Hawes' Hunter Development Corporation has been proposing that the railway line be cut and replaced with a multimillion-dollar transport interchange?"
And here's a definition of conflict of interest from Harvard University. That's the university with the Business School that's produced nine Nobel laureates.
"A conflict of interest may arise when a senior official, his or her family member, or an entity with which the senior official or family member is associated, has an existing or potential financial or other external interest that impairs, or might reasonably appear to impair, the senior official's independence of judgment in the discharge of his or her responsibilities."
Note the words in italics. And that's why this is a problem. Mr Shoebridge is right to raise it in Parliament. It is also entirely reasonable to put questions to Mr Hawes, Mr Broad and any government ministers who have had dealings with the HDC over the rail line.
Who has known about Mr Hawes' 7 per cent share in 780 Hunter Street, and 50 per cent share in 1-9 Beresford Street, and when did they know it?
Mr Broad told the Newcastle Herald the Hunter Development Corporation's board formally advocated removing the rail line two years before Mr Hawes was hired.
Did it occur to anyone that a new general manager with shares in properties directly affected by that decision was, at the very least, not a good look, and likely to be challenged when it became public? And on the Newcastle rail line removal issue, for heaven's sake?
As for Mr Shoebridge needing a "Gregory's" to find Newcastle? Mr Broad clearly doesn't know that Hunter victims of child sexual abuse by powerful institutions, and their families, have no more committed friend in politics than Mr Shoebridge, who has been to the area many times.
