A transcript of a confidential hearing in an inquiry into possible corruption in affairs of the Paddington Bowling Club is missing.
Friends of Quarry Street convenor Lesley Scott applied under the GIPA freedom of information act for a copy of the transcript of the 2008 Inquiry.
This blog has previously reported the findings of that Inquiry. found that very high fees were being paid to members and associates of the Sanchez family who wanted to buy the club. It also found that the Club's administrator had failed to investigate the validity of a large debt allegedly owed by the club. The debt kept the club in under administration while a company associated with the Sanchez family, Woollahra Gardens proprietary limited tried to buy the land on which the Club sits from the Crown.
The Inquiry was set up by the Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing which commissioned a daily transcript from an outside provider . One would normally have expected the hearing to be in public as the negotiations between the Club, the then Minister for Lands were at the heart of the matters being investigated by the company.
But instead of being in public, the hearing was held in camera after a request from the Sanches's barrister Patrick Saidi. ( Saidi is currently appearing for the Crown in the malicious prosecution case also being reported on this blog.)
On the day in which the secret evidence was heard Michael Sanchez told the court that although