Labor MP Karen McKeown seconded a motion to progress a rezoning proposal that would allow property development giant Mirvac to build 2300 houses to the south of Glenmore Park when the matter was brought before Penrith Council in 2022.
Karen McKeown voted to progress a proposal to rezone an area south of Glenmore Park to public exhibition,increasing the likelihood of 2300 new dwellings.Louise Kennerley
Mirvac is part-owned by Active Super,which paid McKeown $111,000 in directors fees that year. The directorship is among four jobs that she has held simultaneously this year,including her position as the elected member for Penrith.
McKeown initially said through a spokesperson that she declared all conflicts of interest on the public conflicts register.
“She always seeks advice and guidance from the general manager of council or the legal team on agenda items before the council for decision and declares as appropriate,” the spokesperson said. “This is in line with the model code of conduct for Penrith Council.”
However,an audio recording of the council meeting shows that McKeown did not disclose a conflict of interest when declarations were sought,and neither was any noted for her in the minutes.
A spokesman for Penrith Council said no advice was given regarding a conflict of interest.
Karen McKeown campaigning in Cranebrook before the 2023 election.Louise Kennerley
Active Super’s combined shareholding in Mirvac was valued at $16.6 million in December.
McKeown quit the board of Active Super on Thursday followingthat she and government whip Nathan Hagarty were among its directors. She will remain sitting on the board until June 30.
The Federal Court last week found Active Super had engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct for claiming to restrict or eliminate its investments in coal,gambling and Russian companies,while retaining an interest in various such entities.
On Friday afternoon,McKeown released a second statement announcing that her board positions on Hawkesbury River County Council and Penrith Performing and Visual Arts had also “come to an end”.
The statement said Active Super had a dedicated investment committee that engaged external fund managers who had the discretion to invest on behalf of the fund. Collectively,they had more than 1100 companies in their portfolios,and this constantly changed.
“The details or changes of these companies are not reported to the board,” the statement said.
“Ms McKeown has never been a member of the Investment Committee. She has declared her board positions on her council declaration of interests as well as for her parliamentary declaration.”
McKeown remains a Penrith councillor.
The combined earnings of the four jobs she retained in the first half of this year netted her an annual income greater than $330,000 – higher than a minister’s salary.
They included her board position on the Hawkesbury River County Council,a single-purpose council that manages weed management in the Hawkesbury River and which McKeown also chaired in 2022–23.
Until the end of last year,she also drew around $12,000 in annual directors fees as a board member of peak council group Local Government NSW.
Opposition environment spokeswoman Kellie Sloane said it was untenable for McKeown to continue in her varied positions. Her fiduciary duty to the superannuation fund and responsibility to Penrith residents may present a conflict of interest because her vote on the Glenmore Park project benefited a portfolio company in the super fund she directed.
‘A spiderweb of conflicts’
But McKeown did recuse herself from voting on Penrith Council’s opposition to the transport-oriented development hubs due to her role as a member of the government. This raised questions about her ability to discharge her duties as a councillor,Sloane said.
“The member for Penrith has multiple jobs that create a spiderweb of conflicts,” Sloane said. “She needs to choose one.”
Premier Chris Minns said it was imperative that the primary focus of Labor Party members was to represent their local community,noting that the court did not make findings about individual directors.
“I expect that of every member of parliament and the … member for Leppington and the member for Penrith have both resigned from the board effective 30 June to focus full-time on their local communities,” Minns said.
“We do have to manage conflicts of interest. It’s difficult for me to put a blanket rule in place in relation to conflicts of interest. The key point and the key responsibility when you get into parliament is to ensure you’ve got up-to-date disclosures.”
Liberal MLC Damien Tudehope will also move a motion in the upper house next week calling on the directors of Active Super to pay any fine the Federal Court may impose.
“If there is a fine imposed by the court in relation to misleading and deceptive conduct,who pays for it?” Tudehope said.
“Why should the members be penalised?”
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