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2009
Tsang decides to quit upper house six years early
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday November 23, 2009
HENRY TSANG has decided to quit his seat in the Legislative Council six years early, making way for the first Muslim representative in State Parliament, Shaoquett Moselmane.Last week Mr Tsang, a former deputy lord mayor of Sydney, lost his parliamentary secretary position - which added $16,970 to his annual parliamentary salary - in the cabinet reshuffle. He had been a parliamentary secretary assisting the Premier and assisting the Treasurer on trade and investment.The demotion followed allegations over his role as a lobbyist for the private construction company Hightrade, which is run by Li Zhang. A report into Mr Tsang's relationship with Hightrade will soon be finished by the Department of Premier and Cabinet, a spokesman for the Premier said yesterday.Mr Tsang recently amended his annual parliamentary disclosure records four times in two weeks, acknowledging gifts and benefits from Hightrade. The amendments confirmed that his relationship with Hightrade stretched back at least six years. They also revealed previously undisclosed hospitality during a trip to China in 2003 and at Hightrade's Hunter Valley Resort last year.Mr Tsang entered Parliament in 1999. His term does not expire until 2015.A meeting of the ALP's Centre Unity faction decided several months ago that Mr Moselmane would fill the next upper house vacancy. But his selection has thwarted the hopes of the Premier, Nathan Rees, to get his friend, the ALP assistant general secretary, Luke Foley, into the upper house.Mr Foley is from the Left, the same faction as another MP who was dumped from the cabinet last week and is refusing to make way for Mr Foley, Ian Macdonald."You can be clear that Luke Foley won't be getting the vacancy," a senior member of the Centre Unity faction said yesterday. "It's proportional representation [of the factions]. It shows just how out of touch the Premier is, since he wanted Luke Foley to get it. As soon as he became Premier he wanted Ian Macdonald out for Foley."First elected mayor of Rockdale Council in 2000, Mr Moselmane was forced to make way for Frank Sartor to stand for Rockdale at the 2003 election, and for the Treasurer, Eric Roozendaal, to enter the upper house a year later. He was sidelined again when John Robertson entered Parliament last year.
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald
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